Alliance
by Meg2
Summary: This story follows “Dead and Gone, With the Wind”, “Dead Accord”, “Dead Reckoning” and the Pam POVs “My Telepathic Friend”, “Dead Set” and “So Hard”. Spoilers for all 8 books, Chapter 1 of book 9, and for the short story "Tacky".
1. Chapter 1

A/N- This story follows "Dead and Gone, With the Wind", "Dead Accord", "Dead Reckoning" and the Pam POVs "My Telepathic Friend", "Dead Set" and "So Hard". You'll be kind of lost if you haven't read those first. Also, there are a few spoilers for the short story "Tacky". Sorry it took so long to put this one up. I've been so busy lately and hadn't set aside time to edit this one. I have a story that follows this one. It is about twice this length, just about ready for final edits and then to put up. Maybe by next week. I'll try to be faster on that one. I'm calling it my protest story. You'll read why at the end of this one.

The characters of the Sookieverse are Charlaine Harris's amazing creation. I hope she doesn't mind my playing with them a little bit since, after all, it promotes the love of her books.

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_His black eyes just bore into me and the snarling teeth were so close to my face. His hand at my throat burned. I was just powerless. Powerless. His other hand started to rip my shirt. No, no, _no_! I didn't want to whimper. I wanted to scream, to fight… And suddenly, I _was_…_

"_Sookie! __**Sookie!** __Wake up… you're safe."_

_Thalia gripped my wrists and pinned me to her. There was a faint echo in my ears of my voice, my screams._

"_It was just a dream, Sookie. A bad dream," she whispered. _

_Once I was awake her tight grip relaxed and she just held me, soothing me._

**Alliance**

**I.**

It was just after midnight on the first Thursday night in early May and I was on day five of Thalia's domineering occupation of my house. I had little idea what was actually going on, other than the fact that, reportedly, Roberto Garcia was now King of at least Nevada. Eric had been gone for five days but I hadn't really seen him in a week. I was getting really tired of being escorted by Tray Dawson to work, even though I really like him. Actually Tray went with me anywhere and everywhere, during the day. If I left the house I was supposed to let him know so he could accompany me. I was shadowed by Thalia at night, because she claimed that Bubba was useless and Bill wasn't adequately up to the task. Thalia was now in charge of Area 5 security. Armed with her Blackberry and her well-manicured nails, she was keeping tabs on everything from wherever she was watching me. Thankfully, she trusted Sam to take care of me at Merlotte's for short stretches of time, although I'd caught her threatening him grave harm, more than once, if anything happened to me when she occasionally left the building. Sam was taking it in stride, unlike some of my other friends.

Octavia had moved to her niece's place in Shreveport because she was too afraid to stay in her room with Thalia in the hidey-hole. Even though Octavia's room was not light-safe like mine was now, Thalia had relished telling Octavia that sometimes she awoke as early as two hours before sunset, because she was _hungry_. Thalia had frightened her, even though I'd pointed out to Octavia that if Thalia really came out of that hidey-hole at 4:30 pm, she'd end up charred. Octavia said she be back whenever things settled down again. Amelia was not as easily put off but was on edge because Thalia was just so rude. She was just in the habit of being rude and snarling with most humans. But she had been calling my friends 'disgusting humans' or 'blood bags' _to their faces_. I was aghast and asked her to please stop, but to no avail. When Amelia had pointed out to Thalia that _I_ was, in fact, also a human, she had actually spat back to Amelia that I was only part human. I apologized to Amelia, and said I was so appreciative of her patience. But on the third day, Amelia made gestures behind Thalia's back and Thalia wheeled around and got all in her face, fangs run down and snarling. So Amelia went to stay with Tray. She said she hoped I'd be okay, since I'd been having trouble sleeping lately. But I told her I'd be fine. Thus, I was left alone in the house with Thalia at night after work. It was kind of telling to me that even Bubba was afraid of Thalia. She was always nice to me, but it left a bad taste in my mouth that she was so rude to my friends. There was nothing I could do about it, though.

Since I had been having trouble sleeping, Thalia and I spent a lot of time talking. I'd learned about her life in Greece, her peripatetic (April 29, and a great word if you know any older vampires) existence over the centuries all throughout Europe. Thalia believed that she was about 1120 years old, which was probably just a couple of decades older than Eric. She wasn't sure because there was some confusion about her actual human age at her turning in her mind. She was pretty much on her own after moving to the US about a hundred years ago. All four of her children she had turned had died. One had been killed by Dieter Jaeger in a battle near Prague in 1720. She hadn't turned anyone in three centuries because she said it just wasn't worth the heartache. I was actually rather surprised to find that she could be so attached to anyone. This was after all the woman who staked Rasul a few short days after she'd been cavorting with him, and had killed an innocent Were to make a cover story. Thalia had been pretty lonely and unhappy until just recently. She made reference to having had many bad experiences with working for other Sheriffs prior to moving to Shreveport. Like Felicia, she'd done her homework and sought out a reasonable employer. But she'd shown up with few references, a bad attitude and had ended up just working in the bar. Things had improved for her after my being taken by Dieter. She had an opportunity and seized it. Now she was much happier. I could tell she really had come to like Pam quite a bit from the happy tone of her voice whenever she touched base with Pam in the evenings. (Pam, though, still had reservations about her.) And Thalia really adored Eric because he had never mistreated her and further more had given her a really serious job. I think she was delighted that Eric didn't care that she was a woman, and didn't care that she was so tiny. All Eric cared about was that Thalia was absolutely ruthless and could get her job done perfectly without having to ask a lot of questions. When she was put in charge of Area 5 security after only a month and a half handling Shreveport, she was plainly thrilled.

Pam called me every night to touch base but gave me no information about what was going on other than confirming that she knew Roberto was in charge of at least Nevada. She apologized after the third day and said part of it was that even she wasn't exactly sure what all was going on. She wasn't sharing any information about what she _did_ know, however. She was in charge of Area 5 in Eric's absence and sounded stressed and busy. She said the volume of business email alone was overwhelming, let alone dealing with the people. Maxwell was helping her keep tabs on all of Eric's businesses, Clancy was in charge at the club. I tried to cheer her up and make plans for getting together to do something fun when Eric returned but she was oddly evasive about making any firm plan. The whole situation was odd and it was so different from Felipe's takeover of the state, when Eric just stayed here and Felipe came to check out his new territory. I was sure that Eric was safe because Roberto knew about Niall. But still, I hadn't spoken to Eric in three days, hadn't had even had so much as a text message in two. I was actually getting pretty demoralized. Pam seemed to sense it and tried to be consoling, telling me not to worry about anything. She even told me she hadn't heard from him other than by email the day before, which was kind of surprising. She said he was really busy and reiterated that everything would be fine.

Sam was softly trying to cajole me into a better frame of mind at work, but to no avail. Even some of the regulars in the bar commented to me that I seemed like I was distant or down. I'd been pretty somber for the past few days. Even though Eric and I had been apart for months after our bond was made, it felt really different now to be apart. I really didn't think it was the bond at all, actually, even though I knew he'd say it was. I just missed him.

Tonight Jason sat chatting with Sam at the bar, slowly nursing a beer while I was waiting my last two tables for the night. Amelia and Tray came in for a late drink and sat with them. Sam snagged me and sat me down at the bar next to Jason, putting a hamburger a la Sookie (medium well, lettuce, extra tomato slice, no pickles, no onions) in front of me. He pointed at it, then at me.

"You better eat it, Sookie, because if you don't I'll have to tell that little harpy who's keeping an eye on you," he said with a chuckle.

I glanced up at the clock. 12:15 am. Thalia would probably arrive shortly. She'd gone to some "friend's" house in Shreveport around 11 pm. According to her text message to Sam, in which she threatened him with injury if anything happened to me on his watch, she was on her way back and would be there by 12:30 am. She'd gone for 'dinner', I surmised. As for my dinner, I really wasn't hungry. It was pretty easy to fall out of the habit of eating properly when you're a human among vampires. Without Amelia and Octavia in the house it just seemed like a lot of effort to cook for myself. Claudine had been over the other evening, but stayed less than five minutes because Thalia worried her, as she later explained to me by phone. We made plans to meet on the weekend during the day when I was off. We ate some brownies (Claudine has a real sweet tooth) from the batch I'd baked for Tray two days before, but clearly that was not a meal. I looked at my burger and sighed.

Tray seemed interested in talking about whatever was going on with the whole vampire takeover. News of the newest vampire takeover had started spreading through the supe community, it seemed.

"So Sookie, do you know this guy Roberto Garcia?" he asked, sounding rather curious. They all actually looked interested, in fact.

"Um, well, sure I've met him."

Amelia jumped in quickly, "He looks really good looking in a photo I saw online. Is he that good looking in person?"

I thought about it. Eric kind of set a pretty high standard where good looking is concerned in my mind but sure, Roberto was certainly easy on the eyes as they say. "Well, sure, I guess. You know that guy in the Buckaroo Banzai movie? Perfect Tommy? He looks sort of like Perfect Tommy. He has bleached blonde hair, almost white. Really dark eyes. And he's tall and slender like that, maybe a couples of inches shorter than Eric." We'd watched _Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension_ about two weeks before. Amelia and I were heavily into 80's cult films in April. "But mostly what I'd have to say about Roberto is that he seems very… modern and smart. I got the impression when I talked to him that he's a very sharp guy."

Tray nodded his head and said with a chuckle, "Well I guess he's definitely modern if he just married a Were."

I turned to him and said, "What?" That was pretty unexpected.

Tray nodded and said, "Yes, it seems like his partner for years has been a Austrian Were by the name of Liesel Schall. She's an investment banker or something. She had been living in Los Angeles. I heard he married her in Vegas less than a day after Felipe de Castro was gone. Word spread through the Were community like wildfire, because it makes such a big statement about broader relations, right?"

I was really kind of surprised. "But a vampire marrying a Were? How common is that?"

Tray said, "Oh, I know of other couples. Taffy and Don Swinton, for instance. They're up in Rhodes and they've been married for a while. Don's the packleader in Rhodes. Then one of the vampire bridesmaids at that wedding married one of the Were groomsmen or something a year later. Rhodes is a real hotbed of intermarriage nowadays from what I hear."

I was still really surprised. "Well, that's interesting. Yeah, I guess having a vampire King marry a Were is a real statement, then." I had to say that if I went back to Vegas with Eric, I'd really be curious to meet this Liesel Schall. And I liked Roberto even more for having had a longterm relationship with a woman who most other vampires would have looked down on. Clearly he was someone who really looked at people as individuals. Given my experience with Weres and vampires, I'd have to say that I really thought it was quite remarkable on _both_ their parts.

In the meantime, I sat looking at my plate, my mind in sort of a muddle at the mere mention of marriage. Exactly two weeks ago Eric had asked me to marry him. I hadn't told anyone. I told him I'd have to think about it. I was still mulling it over when he'd left without warning for Vegas. He didn't seem surprised by my response, which kind of surprised me. Eric usually just expected that people would do as he asked them. Sometimes he even seemed to expect that _I'd_ just do what he asked me to do, no questions asked, which really ticked me off. But he'd taken my response right in stride, almost as if he'd expected what my answer would be. When I started to explain why I wanted to think about it, for instance the fact that dating someone for less than three months, even if you'd known them for several years, didn't really seem like a long enough period of time to make that kind of decision, etc., he just put up a hand and said, "Think about it, Sookie. Just take your time to think about it." Well, I'd been thinking and now I hadn't even heard from him for three whole days while he was off in Iniquityland, as I jokingly referred to Vegas.

Sam leaned over and said in a whisper, "Earth to Sookie…. You need to eat that thing before it gets cold and before Thalia arrives and I have to report to her your every moment in my bar. I was instructed to 'make her eat'. You're going to get me in trouble if you don't."

I looked up and met his merry eyes and wrinkled my nose. "I guess I'm really not hungry, Sam."

Jason elbowed me and said, "Come on, Sook, just eat it. It's not good to go skipping meals. Hey Sam, I'll get some fries and mayo. See, Sookie, I'll sit and eat with you, okay?" He started eating a few fries on my plate and elbowed me again.

I sighed and after glancing back at my two tables, I picked up the still warm burger and took a bite. It was actually good and once I started eating I realized I really was hungry. Sam plunked down a ginger ale for me and then went to go check on my tables for me. Soon, Jason and I were both eating and I was gibing him on the fact that having fries with mayo and ketchup mixed together was about the grossest thing I could think of and that I was thinking about finally disowning him. We were done eating but still gibing each other when Thalia arrived. Jason looked at Thalia flirtatiously and she snarled at him. He made a big show of pretending to act alarmed and then called her "pretty lady" to undermine his show of being afraid. She actually laughed at him, then took my seat when I went to go close out my tables. As I stood at the register ringing up the checks, Amelia and Tray rose to leave and Amelia came to hug me goodbye, wishing me luck with 'the ogress'.

"I can _hear_ you witch," hissed Thalia.

"Oh, dear…" said Amelia, sarcastically.

I sighed. Amelia really enjoyed baiting her at this point. She and Tray left.

After chatting briefly with Thalia, Sam told me to go ahead and take off for the night, even though it was ten minutes before 1 am. There were only two tables left in Letty's station and Letty was still there chatting at one, since they were regulars. I said goodnight to Jason and kissed him on the cheek. We'd been getting along better in recent months. Actually, ever since the whole Magnolia business. Even though Jason hardly ever talked to Eric, and had never even really had acknowledged Eric's phone call to him, it seemed like he had taken Eric's admonishment about showing up more in my life to heart. We still hadn't talked about the whole Calvin and Crystal business and I still cringed whenever I thought of what I'd had to do to Calvin's hand. But Jason and I had gotten to a point that was a bit easier to just be with each other again. We were sort of back in a well-worn groove of relating in a family way. It was comforting right now.

So Thalia drove me home and after making myself a hot cocoa and taking some valerian capsules, I tried to avoid having a pity party for myself after seeing I still had no messages on my home phone or cell phone. I said goodnight to Thalia and went off to bed. Thalia was watching _Buffy_, Season 3 and Bubba patrolled outside. I climbed into bed, read for a while and finished my cocoa. After brushing my teeth, I climbed back under my covers, turned out the light and tried not to feel the full impact of how sad and lonely I really felt. I failed.

Slowly, I gave in to a heavy, valerian-induced, sleep…


	2. Chapter 2

**II.**

I was awakened by lips pressing against my own and the familiar scent of Eric. His arms were around me. I had really been sound asleep but as I awoke a bit more, I realized he'd been murmuring to me and maybe I'd even been talking back to him. I had a vague recollection of a chuckling "Lover, wake up" echoing in my brain. It was totally dark in the bedroom and I had no idea what time it was. The kissing had me kind of distracted. While we continued to kiss, his hands were busy pulling up my nightgown and pulling down my panties. He was already naked and quite obviously aroused. He leaned against the headboard and pulled me on top of him and the nightgown came off entirely. The valerian was really making me so groggy. I felt like I was in a dream, although it was a very nice dream. After pushing my hair out of the way, he bit my neck. The seeming suddenness of it just made me gasp and I cried out. But it didn't really hurt so much as it was that I was just not expecting it. Even waking up and finding him there in my bed and myself in his arms was unexpected. He went on drawing for more than a minute at my neck and then licked my neck. He lifted me up from his chest a bit and said softly,

"I was starved… Look at you, you're still so sleepy. I didn't hurt you did I? Sookie?"

It had been a full week since we'd been together. From the urgency I felt from him, he was really not kidding about being starved. In more ways than one. I felt his penis sort of throb against my bare belly and felt washed over with wave intense desire. I couldn't even reply to him. I just felt breathless. I guess I was feeling the rush of his desire along with my own and it overwhelmed me.

He chuckled again, "You're so groggy." Then he whispered, "Sookie, you're okay right? I didn't hurt you, did I?" He stroked my neck, gently.

I just shook my head with a murmured 'MmmNmm' and nuzzled up against him. He rolled over on top of me and began kissing me passionately again while one hand grabbed my butt and lifted me toward his hips and the other started pushing fingers into me, massaging their way inside insistently. He thrust himself into me and groaned as I cried out. I was sort of floating mentally, still so sleepy. He slowed slightly and shifted one of my legs from around his hips to up on his shoulder and kissed my ankle as he drove into me more deeply. After several minutes like that he shifted my legs back around his hips and pulled me up and sat near the edge of the bed, with me sitting on top of him. His eyes glowed softly. I put my hands on his shoulders. With one hand at my waist, he held my face gently with the other and looked into my eyes.

"How I've missed you, Lover. I've…" he kissed me gently, "missed you terribly."

Well, if this was a dream, it was a _vast_ improvement over some of the recent ones I'd been having….

He stood up with me, pulled himself out of me and then playfully tossed me onto the mattress. He loomed over me kissing my lips, throat, between my breasts while his hands busied themselves with my nipples, then worked his lips and tongue down to my navel, which he danced his tongue around playfully. His hands circled my waist and pulled me closer to the edge of the bed. I moaned as he worked his way further down, floating on the crest of a wave of pleasure. Moments later, he bit my inner thigh and drew blood for longer than he usually did, to the extent that for a moment I actually felt lightheaded, even though I was flat on my back. He stopped immediately then, as if he could feel it. When he was done he turned me over and climbed onto the bed and entered me from behind, and lifting me slightly he pulled my torso up against his, caressing my breasts, then hugging me to him. He whispered to me somewhere above my ear, as he bent his head and pressed it against mine,

"I love you, Sookie Stackhouse… you're mine and I love you," in a voice that seemed to just echo throughout me.

Then he gently but firmly pushed me back down onto all fours and thrust into me until he came, with a guttural roar. He slumped down on top of me.

He rolled over and pulled me to his side, wrapping his arm tight around me.

"Good evening. How have you been?" I asked with a bit of a chuckle.

He let out a low rumbling laugh and tousled my hair.

"I have been famished, horny as hell, and missing you immensely." He kissed my forehead. "How have you been, my Lover?"

I hesitated. I could try to get away with saying fine, but I knew he could probably tell, plus if he'd talked to Pam he'd know I'd been sounding down.

"Lonely. I missed you. I missed talking to you. I missed…" I just sort of trailed off. Everything?

"I'm sorry I didn't call the past few days. It was extremely hectic, and every time I finally got away to call, I thought I'd wake you because it was so late for you. It took longer than I thought it would to finish things up there. I'm sorry if it made you sad, Lover. I really thought I'd be back yesterday night. I couldn't wait to see you. I came straight from the airport." He wrapped both his arms around me and hugged me.

I turned my head up to see the silhouette of his face in the dark. He knew I'd been sad… Maybe being apart had been hard for him, too. He pulled me closer to his face to kiss me more. In no time he was back on top of me, back inside of me, his eyes looking back down at me, his hands pinning mine above my head, his fingers interlaced with mine. I was just carried a way on a wave of passion.

Afterwards, lying in his arms and feeling pretty much totally spent, I recalled his saying as he rubbed his blood into the bite wounds,

"I have to go to New Orleans. But I'll be back in two days. I promise. If you feel sad, just call me, Lover. Send a text message if I don't pick up and I'll call you back. I'm leaving you some things for you to look at and something from Roberto."

He kissed me again, once he was dressed, holding my face gently in his hands and looking down at me. I guess I had briefly fallen asleep again. I smiled up at him.

"I love you, Sookie."

And then he was gone…

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When I awoke at about 10 am the next morning I noted the bed was a shambles. The sheets were pulled out all over, the quilt was almost totally off the bed to one side, and two of my four pillows were on the floor. I was on my side, at an odd angle in the bed, but sort of facing the now darkly glassed window. The light in the room actually came from the open bedroom door. My nightgown was over near the window, my panties were tossed off near the rocker in the corner of the room. I shifted my head to look at the clock. It was 10:12 am. There were several manila envelopes and a smaller ivory envelope with a small black velvet box on top, on the nightstand. As I started to lean over to look at everything, I groaned. I was _so_ sore. All over. I felt sore like when you go work out after a period of not exercising. Sighing, I propped myself up and picked up the box and the envelopes.

I started with the manila envelopes, which looked like serious business. The first envelope had some sort of stamped insignia on the return address area. It was a coat of arms below which said _García Mora y Továr_ and _Nevada_. It was addressed in a fancy script to _Miss Sookie Stackhouse_. I opened it to find what looked like a formal contract. There was a cover letter, typewritten but hand signed with a flourish.

_Greetings Sookie,_

_I hope this note finds you well. It was a great pleasure to have met your acquaintance in March. I was very impressed with the information you were able to provide us about goings on in the Aztec Nights Casino. Mr. Henry Lin, by the way, sends his warm regards. He was most grateful for your assistance, as were we._

_I would like to offer you a business opportunity. I would very much enjoy having you visit us on a monthly basis, to walk the casino floor and help us maintain a good order of operation. I understand from Eric that you have some firmly held principles under which your work is performed. I have taken the liberty of drawing up a contract, to which mutually agreed modifications may be made as necessary. I'm sure that you will want to take some time to read through it, and perhaps have one of Eric's attorneys look it over. _

_I look forward to hearing from you._

_Best regards,_

Roberto

_Roberto García Mora y Továr_

At the top of the page there was a coat of arms, which appeared to be in the colors of the Spanish flag. I guessed that Roberto was actually Spanish then. I wondered if maybe Roberto and Eric actually knew each other from Europe. Maybe Eric would finally tell me one of these days.

I looked through the contract briefly and noted that he wanted me to spend three days, or a long weekend, once a month in Vegas as his guest in the hotel, walking the casino floor for a minimum of four hours a day. All travel was to be at his expense. There were numerous stipulations about what outcomes would be sought for various groups detected to be engaging in any illegal activities. All activities deemed illegal under Nevada state and specifically Clark County (which actually does not allow prostitution, I was surprised to see, unlike the rest of the state of Nevada) law were to be reported to him. Humans would be delivered to human law enforcement, Weres and any form of shifter would be subject to a special proceedings body convened by a local packleader and appropriate were representatives, unless their violations significantly impacted humans, in which case they would be turned over to human authorities. And finally vampires, subject to a vampire court for illegal activities not involving humans, but stipulating human authorities if the criminal activity was judged by Roberto to be more effectively dealt with by such authorities. I flipped to the last page which detailed compensation, and was astounded to see that for three days of only twelve hours of work, Roberto was offering me eight thousand dollars, or ninety-six thousand dollars a year and that any additional work required would be paid at a rate of four thousand dollars per two hour blocks of time. I could break up the time on the casino floor into blocks of time however I wished, presumably so that I wouldn't get too fatigued by listening in all that din. Plus, I would have a personal bodyguard at all times while in Las Vegas, selected by Roberto but subject to my approval or that of my 'representative', which I took to mean Eric. I was just plain flabbergasted. Almost a hundred thousand dollars a year? It seemed too good to be true. I nervously put the contract and letter back into its envelope and then opened the other envelope.

The single page in the other envelope was an official decree of protection granted to Miss Sookie Stackhouse by the Alliance of Central States, signed by the Kings of Nevada, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Indiana and Missouri. I saw that the lead signature was that of Roberto, as King of Nevada, followed by that of Stan Davis, King of Texas. Scanning down further I saw that Joseph Velasquez, long Stan's second, was now King of Arkansas. And then I came to Louisiana. Eric Northman, King of Louisiana. My heart skipped a beat. I actually felt dizzy. I recalled his saying when he left in the middle of the night that he was going to New Orleans and would be back in two days. I let out a long breath, not even knowing what to think. I sat there for a moment looking at the document and then finally put it, too, back in its envelope.

I glanced at the velvet box, and opened it. It was a ring. A marquise cut emerald that must have at least two carats. It was a vibrant green and looked flawless, which I knew for an emerald had to be hard to find. It was flanked by two diamonds on either side. It was set in what really looked from the sheen to be platinum, just like my Brigant locket.

I looked at the ivory envelope that had been under the box. I opened it to find a simple card.

_Lover,_

_Just say yes already. _

_If you need it resized, let Pam know._

_I love you._

_Yours,_

_Eric_

It was almost scandalously mushy for Eric. On the heels of telling me several times in the middle of the night, he had now put it in writing and signed his name to it.

I remembered last week, before he'd left suddenly, his mentioning the proposal again in passing. I hadn't said anything about it in the week since he'd asked. I guess in a way I wasn't taking it too seriously. A week ago, he managed to keep a straight face while telling me that he hoped I knew he was 'dead serious' about the proposal. The phrase had become something of a joke between us, since I'd used it once arguing about something and Eric had pointed out with gusto that, really, I _wasn't_. It seemed he was, though.

I heard the alarm chiming as the front door opened, and Amelia's voice called out "Sookie, don't get freaked, it's only me. Are you awake?" She disarmed the alarm.

I paused for a moment to catch my breath and then called back, "Yeah. I need to get dressed, I'll be out in a minute."

"You didn't set the coffee machine last night? I'll start a pot. I got a text message from Eric. I'm supposed to make you eat. Did he talk to you?"

Yes, I thought to myself. He sure did…


	3. Chapter 3

**III.**

So this was a point in my life where normally everything would have gone haywire. I would be drawn into a Were battle, or find a naked man in my backwoods, or be kidnapped by the Fae, or my ex would be tortured by his sire and I'd have to stake her to save him, or perhaps Were-witches would start making my life go crazy. But… nothing like that happened. But there was no drama beyond that which was on my nightstand and the occasional bad night's sleep. I had not been slapped or bitten (other than pleasurably) or violently glamoured by anyone for two solid months. Everything was peaceful and quiet. Today was just a typical morning, where I'd get up, have breakfast and relax before going in for the late shift.

I got up and got dressed. Amelia made us eggs, sunny side up, and Canadian bacon while I juiced some oranges.

As we sat eating, she asked me what Eric had to say. So I told her he was now the vampire King of Louisiana and had gone to New Orleans for a few days. She seemed pretty unsurprised.

"Yeah, we were kind of figuring that. Sam told us that he's probably, other than dragon lady, the oldest vampire in the state, and definitely the one with the most consolidated power. It didn't seem like Perfecto Roberto was too into the whole three state idea since he hasn't put in an appearance here, right? He'd probably have to show up to make a statement if he was really interested. So when are you going?"

"What do you mean? Going where?" I asked looking puzzled. I had to chuckle at Perfecto Roberto, though.

"Well, if he moves to New Orleans you're going to go too, aren't you??" she said looking at me with a sparkle in her eye.

"Well, I guess he'd have to ask me first, Amelia."

She looked at me oddly.

"What?" I asked.

She hesitated for a minute. Then she looked at me with her head a slight angle and said,

"But I thought… Pam told me he proposed to you, Sookie."

Immediately after she said it, she looked distressed with herself. I zipped into her head faster than a heat-seeking missile. She really wished she could take that one back, I could see… She didn't even know what she was thinking giving that info up. Wow, Pam was going to be mad if she found out that Amelia told me that, I thought to myself. Because Eric was going to be mad if he found out that Pam told Amelia about the proposal. But then I realized that Amelia was feeding Pam info about me, my reactions, our conversations? To… help _Eric_? I hadn't said anything and hadn't acted any different after his proposal. And curiously, Eric was then trying to convince me that he really meant it the following week? Well, I could now see how that came about.

"You know, Amelia, Pam _is_ going to be totally pissed that you told me that. Who else did you tell?" She must have told Tray. I was kind of mad. I didn't like all this talking behind my back, and really, I wasn't too thrilled that she was telling Pam about my conversations with her. It wasn't that I had things to hide necessarily but it wasn't right. I wasn't sharing any conversations I had with Pam or Amelia with anyone.

"I only told Tray. And Sam."

Sam, too? I gasped. "Shit Amelia! Do you realize how much trouble you could cause Pam?" Now I really_ was_ mad at her. Not that I thought that Sam would tell anyone, but that Amelia was being rather free with the info. Plus, it was a bit embarrassing to think that all these people knew about Eric's proposal when I didn't even know what _I_ thought about it.

"They won't tell anyone, Sookie. Really. We won't say anything."

"Well you already _did_ say something, didn't you? And why are you telling Pam about my conversations with you? That's really a violation of my privacy, Amelia."

"Kinda like having your telepathic friend read your mind and find out you've been trying to help her friend and boyfriend 'deal' with her?" She looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"You should have the good sense to apologize, Amelia. It _is_ violating my privacy and you know it. What have you been telling Pam that I told you? Exactly what?" I asked crossly, while cutting my bacon with a vengeance.

"You should have the good sense to be happy to have so many people in your life that care about you in spite of how damned hard you make it for anyone trying to do anything for you, Sookie. Pam's right. You're too stubborn. Did you ever think that she wouldn't have to call me up and ask me stuff if you would just be a little more forthcoming with your boyfriend or with her? She's your friend, right?"

I glared at her and then just sat there silently, finishing my breakfast and OJ. Since I was probably not going to be speaking to Amelia any further this morning, I was able to give free rein to my thoughts about Eric's proposal, New Orleans, and how this whole situation had evolved. I stabbed my egg yolk.

Two weeks ago, Eric asked me to marry him and a little more than a week later he took off to Vegas after Roberto got rid of Felipe, and then Eric became King of Louisiana. Looking at the timing, I really got the feeling that the whole proposal thing was part of some larger plan. If Eric was going to move to New Orleans, I was guessing he given some thought about whether I'd go with him. I'd already told him that I'd go to Texas with him. He'd probably thought that meant I'd go to New Orleans with him, too. Even though going under these circumstances seemed much more serious than his just going and working for Stan in Dallas. But still, he'd asked me a nice way, I thought to myself. A way that could keep me respectable, since I was from a family that would have disapproved of my just living with someone. Eric was always teasing me about what an old fashioned girl I was in spite of the fact that I was so headstrong and independent. He often said that I lived my life as if I'd still have to look Gran in the eye every morning at breakfast. And he was right. It was one of those things he got about me.

How long had Eric known he was going to become King of Louisiana I wondered? I thought back to the Vegas trip in March and that whole scene in Felipe's office, when Roberto looked over at Eric after Felipe told Roberto to take me away. I'd wondered about that odd look at the time. But now looking back, I was sure that Roberto would have taken Eric's side if Eric had decided to fight. Eric had told me that he'd known Roberto for a while, so Roberto probably knew that Eric would fight if pushed to do so. I still remembered Eric's polite tone of voice to Felipe and how oblivious Felipe seemed to the warning in that tone. The last time I'd heard Eric be so polite in a bad situation was to Dieter. It didn't work out well for Dieter. It had begun to occur to me that when someone who is powerful is being polite to you in that kind of situation, it is a _very_ bad sign. It means they are already convinced they can take you if they have to and they're giving you the opportunity to rethink things. Sometimes, I still wondered how strong Eric was _really_. I now looked back on that night in the parking lot at Merlotte's and knew Eric had been miserable because he was going to have to put himself in a pretty bad position to save himself. I knew from one brief conversation I'd had with him that I'd kind of misread him on the situation that night, though he had definitely been really touched that I had come back to help him. And it had saved him a lot of trouble because it bought him time. Eric really was not into big displays of power at all. He told me that was giving away your hand and that it's always safer to use the minimum amount of effort to get something done because then people really never know what you're capable of and therefore you always have that element of surprise in your favor. If Felipe couldn't get away from Sigebert easily, it wouldn't look very good that his Sheriff was stronger than he was. And Eric was right. Only four months and one Magnolia raid later, Felipe hated Eric and had tried to get rid of him.

I'd seen Eric in a fight at Sophie-Anne's compound in New Orleans before Katrina and frankly, he'd looked like a kid at the playground. Bowling for vampires, indeed. He did not look like he was particularly stretched. He looked a little fatigued after killing something like thirteen or fourteen German fairies back in late February. He'd looked more drunk on fairy blood than anything else, even though he'd been stabbed and slashed. Minor stuff, considering leaving more than a dozen fairies dead. But to be fair, their magic had been zapped down a few notches by Niall. Fairies are supposed to be really hard to kill. Still, all things considered, I was sure Roberto wanted to be on _Eric's_ side of any fight. Because really, my impression after talking to him briefly in Vegas was that he was very smart. What was it that Sun Tzu said? Choose your enemies carefully? Well, Eric was not an enemy that anyone in their right mind would enjoy having. It certainly hadn't worked out well for Victor Madden. I really tried to avoid thinking about Victor's fate even though I certainly had no fondness for the man.

Back in March I'd managed to get out of Eric that Roberto knew Stan. Stan was the second signature on the Alliance of Central States document that Eric had left me. And what was up with pulling together leaders of eight states to meet within a day of Felipe's permanent demise? So many others must have known or been in line to join their alliance. Russell and Bart had signed. I didn't know the others, though I'd at least seen the King of Missouri at Rhodes. This must have been the works for some time… Eric had a standing deal since December to leave and go work for Stan if Felipe got too unbearable, and he had just basically decided to take Stan up on it that day in March. He had tendered his resignation to Felipe and Roberto must have known that. But if things weren't set yet, that was probably why Roberto had looked so amused when I pulled out my Grandfather's menacing decree and Felipe had to let us go after the plans to get rid of Eric and keep me failed. It probably saved a lot of trouble and bought Roberto some more time to organize. Plus, I guess Roberto might even have worried about what would have happened if Eric really killed Felipe and then decided to stay in Nevada. So my being able to intervene had really kind of finessed things that time. Just like in a way it had the time with Sigebert. Anyway, no matter how I looked at it, Roberto and Stan must have been planning the whole thing for a while. While I didn't think that Eric was in on it _before_ our Vegas trip, I definitely thought that Eric must have been part of Roberto and Stan's plan if Stan had made Eric the offer he had in December in the first place. Probably the offer was a test. If Eric left, he clearly would not take Felipe's side. The upshot? I was now sure Eric must have known for almost two months that he was going to be King of Louisiana. Because I looked back with a fresh eye on those past two months…

Eric made a quick trip to Tyler, Texas when we got back from Vegas. Tyler is about midway between Dallas and Shreveport… but everyone, even Pam, assumed that he was in Bon Temps with me that night. He drove back shortly before dawn and spent the day in my house. I thought he'd just been talking to Stan about whether he was really leaving Felipe's service. I'd been surprised when he stayed on, but figured it wasn't my business. Then there was Eric getting me go to Fangtasia on my nights off, and getting all his Area 5 vamps to treat me with respect but now I thought to myself, mostly it seemed like he was getting _me_ used to their treating me with such deference, because it made me so damn uncomfortable. Having me sit with him really openly at his booth at the bar all night, even though I told him I thought it was bad for business. (In retrospect, Eric doing _anything_ bad for business should have given me more pause for thought, because Eric was usually all about business.) It had been pretty unpleasant sitting there and trying to continuously filter out all the ugly thoughts of the fangbangers who just wanted me gone. But I'd done it, because it seemed important to him for me to be there. It made him happy. I'd actually been pretty amused because Pam acted as if I didn't realize it was bad business. One time last month I'd made mention of the fact that it was just mentally exhausting to be there for more than a few hours and she seemed surprised when I explained that being a continual target for such hateful thoughts was a real drain after a a while. Like she hadn't thought I'd be noticing the fangbangers all hated me? They wouldn't even let me go to the _ladies room_ on my own, obviously worried that the bangers would go after me! Then there was Thalia, personally setting up my security details with Bill and having me watched night and day, with Amelia hinting that Tray was being paid handsomely for it. And now she was personally guarding me at night for the past five nights while Eric was out of state. Having the head of Area security personally watch over the Sheriff's girlfriend seemed a little extreme to me, but when I'd said that to Thalia on her third day in my house, she crossed her arms and looked up at me as if challenging me to question Eric's plan. Eric's plans I questioned regularly, much to his annoyance. Questioning Thalia about almost anything was something I would not contemplate. It was too scary.

It was clear, in hindsight, that Eric had had an agenda for the past two months and that everything was planned. And I had just unknowingly followed the plan. He must have been delighted by that, because it really annoyed him when I questioned his plans for me. Really, I suppose that I could view it as his being rather manipulative. Or I could view it as Eric being considerate and trying to carefully stage my adjustment over the past two months to whatever his new life was going to be. Of course, Eric had also given me just enough info so that I could figure it all out. And I was sure that he knew I would figure it all out from the moment I saw that decree of protection from an alliance of ten states. And really it's not like I could have expected that he could tell me all this stuff ahead of time, I told myself. I was sure Eric hadn't even told Pam everything that was going on. Roberto and Stan's plan was an ambitious and dangerous one. It wasn't something you'd be dropping hits about.

What really stuck in my head after thinking all of this through was _why_? Why would Eric want to go ahead with his part of their plan? He'd always shown little interest in becoming King. I'd really meant what I'd said that night in Felipe's office- that if Eric wanted to be King, he'd have taken the state of Louisiana when Sophie-Anne was so injured. It would have been a snap. There were only two other Sheriffs really operating- Arla Yvonne and Cleo. They'd likely have just conceded because at least Eric was a known quantity and Eric seemed, so far as I'd heard from people like Indira, Felicia and Thalia, to have a very reasonable reputation. Since as I said, I couldn't really imagine anyone in their right mind deciding to make an enemy of Eric, he would have probably won without much of a fight. But I could see that Eric was a very loyal person when it came to people he liked, and he liked Sophie-Anne. He stuck by Sophie-Anne and ran about half the state following her incapacitation, and Andre's death. If he didn't want it then, why was now different? The only real difference I could see was the Alliance of ten states. What were they going to do as an Alliance, I wondered? Was there something like a master plan?

I could go on spinning in my thoughts about all of this political bullshit endlessly. But I was running from the point I was really afraid to think about. Eric was now the King of Louisiana. It was all so different from what I'd been thinking about over the past week, since he had told me he was really serious about his proposal. Before it was simply stuff along the lines of whether I said yes, I'd live in Shreveport. Or in a real stretch, if we'd really leave and he'd go work for Stan. What did it mean now? I was kind of scared thinking about it. I decided to take a mental break. Stop thinking, Sookie, I told myself. Just _stop_.

I picked up my plate and Amelia's plate and took everything over to the sink and started cleaning up. Amelia just sat at the table with her coffee, shaking her head. I'd been silent a good ten minutes while I'd been thinking it all through.

"Sookie, I'm really sorry if you're upset. But really, Pam and I just want you to be happy. We're your friends and we want you to be happy. She really loves you. Or as she says, she's very fond of you. She talks about you like you're a sister or something. She just wants it all to work out. I _know_ you love him, Sookie. I was only talking to her about you because we both want you to be happy."

I put everything into the dishwasher, turned and smiled at Amelia and said,

"Thanks for making breakfast. I promise I'll get over it." And I would. It was really hard for me to stay mad at people I cared about for too long. After all, I'd even forgiven Jason about Calvin. And I could see she was a bit remorseful about it, even if she didn't want to say so.

It was 11:20 am. I was going to have to find something to keep me busy for the next four hours. I went back to my room and made up the bed. I took a hot shower, which helped my achiness. I noted with amazement that even in pitch dark, Eric seemed to be able to patch bite wounds with unerring accuracy. I put on my bikini and flip-flops and picked up my book from the nightstand. I hesitated, put the book down and sat on the bed. I opened the box and took out the ring and slipped it on my finger. It fit. Eric was just uncanny for some things. I swear he could figure out what size I was anywhere, I thought to myself. It was such a gorgeous ring. It was not lost on me that he had chosen a ring that complimented the locket that my Grandfather had given me, which never left my neck. I took it off and put it back in the box. I read the card again. Then I picked up my book, _The Book Thief_, and went to read about a different Liesel, a girl who fascinated Death. When in doubt, get a tan.

**

* * *

  
**

_Everybody_ got bent out of shape when I drove myself to work around 4 pm, about half an hour early. Holly had a cold and I told her I'd come early in case she wanted to take off. I'd left Tray a message on his cell but I guess he didn't check it in time. When he saw me walk in early, without my escort, Sam got very angry, dragged me into the office and sat me down in his chair. He lectured me about my 'attitude problem', pointing out that it was Tray's hide, and probably his, too, if anything happened to me and that he had always thought me a more considerate person than that. He actually got red in the face and in the end I burst into tears and he got embarrassed. He left me the box of tissues and went back out to the bar, shaking his head.

It kind of gave me pause for thought that I couldn't even drive to work in my own hometown in their eyes. Did that mean if I moved to New Orleans I couldn't go places on my own anymore? I'd have problems with that. How could I get used to that I wondered? Would Eric really expect that I'd have to have someone around me 24/7? I'd go nuts. How could I adjust to a life like that? But basically, taking in Sam's reaction, I knew that whether I was there or here, this _was_ my new life as long as I was Eric's.

Pam called the bar around 11 pm. Sam told me to take the call in the office. She asked about the ring right away. No hello or anything.

"Eric gave you a ring. Do you need it resized?"

"So how are you doing this evening, Pam? I'm fine, thank you. It was so nice of you to ask, and I'm so touched by your concern and that subtle sound in your voice that says 'I miss you, too, my friend'."

There was a long silence during which I have to admit, I was enjoying giving Pam a hard time because she never missed an opportunity with Eric and it seemed only fair, even if she was my friend.

"Sookie?"

"Pam?"

"_Does the ring fit_?"

I could just about feel her curiosity spilling out of the telephone… She was asking about _more_ than whether the ring fit.

"So, Pam are you pumping Amelia for information about me?"

"Sookie, I need to confirm that the ring fits. I was _told_ to confirm it."

"Pam, you know, I _never_ talk about anything that I talk about with you to anyone else? Not even to Eric, Pam. So imagine my surprise when…" but she cut me off.

"Sookie, I'm really busy here, and I have my list of things I need to accomplish. I don't have time for your being obstreperous. I really don't. Does the ring fit you, or not? Yes or no."

"Yes, ma'am."

Another pause.

"Sookie, for heaven's sake, would you please just be more amenable? I'm totally swamped here."

"But I answered your question!"

"I need more information," she said barely repressing a laugh.

"Pam, you're my friend, and I love you. I really do. But that's none of your business right now."

She made a sound of disappointment, and I could hear her fingers clacking away on a keyboard in the background. _Ring fits_ she muttered as she typed. Then she quickly changed the subject.

"So Thalia tells me that you drove to work on your own this evening. I thought that we were in agreement that it was inappropriate to do that. Especially _now_."

"Now?" I asked.

"Sookie, it might have escaped your notice that your significant other is rather high profile. You are _not_ to be going around on your own. Putting yourself at risk puts all of us at risk, as well. We have to protect you, remember?"

"I left a message for Tray that I was going in early. I said I was leaving for work shortly before 4 pm. He didn't make it there in time and so I drove myself to work. My friend Holly was sick and I started early so she could go home. I tried to follow the 'rules' but it didn't work out and I had promised to go in early. Since Sam has yelled at me until I cried, then Thalia told me off, and Tray came in and just stared darkly at me like I was ruining his life, I guess it's now your turn, right? Knock yourself out, Pam"

"Sookie, I have two words for you. Just two. Remember Dieter," she said snappily.

A chill settled over me. But I steeled myself and said, "Really honestly Pam, I remember Dieter better than you or anyone else I know ever could. I can still see him snarling in my face or I feel his hands on me… And it's all I can do not to have some major psychological issues. So don't think you're offering me any big revelation, okay? And you're being very naïve. While I know you all really _want _to keep me safe, there is simply nothing that Tray, or even Thalia, would ever be able to do if some Fae really went after me, Pam. If that's your concern, there is no way, for anyone other than my family, to deal with them. I would want _all_ of you to stay far, far away from any Fae business of that sort. Because really, I absolutely assure you, you simply have _no_ _idea_…. But I understand what you're saying. That sometimes it's the things that you don't expect, where you think you'd be safe, that can harm you most."

Things like your great uncle kidnapping you from your own home, for instance. My hand gripped the locket around my neck. My great-grandfather having confirmed there were worse things out there among the Fae than Dieter had not exactly been comforting. And not being around Eric for days at a time made it easier to lapse back into really bad memories of Dieter, since Eric's buoyant nature could always keep me from dwelling on it all. Two nights ago I had a nightmare and I woke up screaming, cradled in Thalia's arms. She'd stayed in the bed with me until dawn. I'd pleaded with her not to tell anyone, basically meaning not to tell Eric. It was not my first such nightmare. I'd had many in the past six weeks. It was, in fact, one of the things I was worried that Amelia could have told Pam- that I was still having nightmares. Pam was now totally silent on the other end of the line… Did she know something about it? I couldn't tell for sure. Maybe she was just teasing me, and hadn't really thought of what she was saying. Clearly from her silence she felt bad. I bet she knew. Really, Amelia was just _such_ a little weasel… I wondered if she had told Pam how bad they were, or just that I was having them. Actually, though, maybe Pam didn't know, because I couldn't believe that if she knew, she wouldn't tell Eric.

"Pam?"

"Just don't going around trying to be brave, Sookie. Please? I'm sorry I mentioned Dieter. It wasn't… I'm sorry. I know you have bad memories of that. I was just being saucy."

"Well, I need to get back to work and so do you."

"So you will wait for Thalia to go home, correct?"

"Pam, this is Thalia we're talking about. Do you think I could have even made it to out my car to leave my house if it wasn't the daytime? I have no choice but to go home with Thalia, so don't worry."

"Sookie, you are going to come to New Orleans, right?" she said in a softer tone of voice than her usual one.

Well, that confirmed Pam was going to New Orleans. But darned if I was going to discuss New Orleans with her before I talked to Eric about it. I felt like coming back with a snappy retort myself but stopped myself. I could be honest enough with myself to say that Pam was "very fond" of both Eric and me, and just wanted things to work out. Amelia was really right. Pam was in my business because she cared. And Amelia was a good enough friend to tell me off when I needed it.

"Pam, I am totally confused about everything and I don't even begin to know what to tell you. I have no plan beyond finishing work tonight and trying to get a good night's sleep."

She sounded a little concerned about my response as we said our goodbyes.

I let go of the locket and fingered the emerald ring which was now also on my platinum chain. Was I going to New Orleans? Amelia was right about that, too. Really, I _had_ been asked. Very clearly asked. But somehow this choice seemed so much bigger than just moving to Dallas would have been. It involved more now, more changes to my life. It was such a big commitment to even agree to get married. We'd only been together for a few months. Everything was just making my head spin.

Luckily, I had to just snap out of it. I had tables to serve.


	4. Chapter 4

**IV.**

As I drove home, Thalia was silent in the passenger seat. Finally, as I turned onto the drive to the house from Hummingbird Road, she said quietly,

"I told Eric."

I swallowed hard and was silent. The only sound came from the tires on the gravel drive. I finally came to a stop in front of the house. After I'd removed the key from the ignition I fingered the indentations on it, watching as my fingers traced across the shining metal. The crickets were chirping so loudly now that the engine was off. We just sat in the car.

"Sookie, you need to be able to sleep. Without having nightmares. I talked to the witch earlier and she says that it's been like this for weeks."

Tears started rolling down my face. I had been fine for a few weeks after I came back from Arkansas. I'd had a few rough days in the beginning but then I had been distracted by the trip to Vegas, and by spending a good period of time with Eric. But sometime around the end of the second week of March, as Eric got busier again in Shreveport and things just seemed to go back to a normal pace of life, I started having terrible nightmares. Octavia would be awakened by my crying out, often screaming. Sometimes she even had trouble waking me from the dreams. Most of the time I had nightmares on nights I'd worked late, and typically they came close to dawn. On my early days though, I often stayed overnight in Shreveport with Eric and then I didn't have them. Octavia had me taking valerian root at bedtime. Sometimes it helped, like the previous night, and I could fall into a really deep, sound sleep. But a lot of the time I just had the nightmares anyway… They were just so real. Sometimes I had trouble falling asleep now because I was _worried_ I'd have nightmares. Amelia and Octavia had wanted me to talk to at least Claudine about it, but I was too stubborn and too proud to admit that I was having problems. I didn't like having to ask other people for help. Plus, everyone had told me I was so brave during the whole Dieter episode. Being afraid of your dreams was _not_ brave. I was so angry that Dieter was still in my head, and that try as I might, I wasn't able to root him out by sheer force of will.

Thalia turned to me and stroked my tear-streaked cheek. "You don't have to be brave all the time, Sookie. I know you wanted me to keep it secret. But I had to tell Eric. I hope you understand. Security is more than just keeping people away from you. I really think there is something _wrong_. I think you need help with this."

I swallowed and just nodded. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who'd staked Rasul, I thought to myself. The same woman who could go around killing people she didn't care about with seeming reckless abandon. She'd been so kind to me about the nightmares. I couldn't be angry with her for telling Eric. And besides, being angry with Thalia wouldn't get me anywhere anyway. It would just get me in more trouble. I got out of the car and walked toward the porch. Bill and Bubba were on the porch in the rocking chairs, rocking. Bill looked up at me and in spite, of our somewhat reserved current truce, he looked worried when he saw tears on my face. He started to reach out to touch my arm, but I just waved him off. I walked by them, nodding to Bubba, and went into the house. I didn't feel like talking.

In my bedroom there was a large bouquet of red roses on the dresser. They must have been delivered in the late afternoon. I guessed Amelia must have put them there since she'd stayed puttering around in the house after I left. I kicked off my shoes and snatched the card out of the little plastic holder. It was one of those little computer printed ones but the message made me laugh. _'Dead serious…'_ with no signature. Eric was more persistent than a hungry mosquito, I thought to myself. I took my cell phone out of my purse and noted three missed calls. One from Pam, but then she had reached me at the bar, and then two from Eric, 8:15 pm and 10:45 pm, my usual break times. But I'd worked right through the breaks tonight, sort of trying to make it up to Sam. The text message from Eric sent around 11 pm said, _Call me asap_. I guessed that Thalia had called him to tell him earlier in the evening after talking to Amelia. Well, this was a conversation that I didn't want to have. Thalia was right. I felt I had to be brave. I didn't like being scared of my memories or of my dreams and I was basically too proud to admit to anybody that I was. I didn't want to have to ask anyone for help because memories of a _dead_ fairy were scaring me. It was about 1:15 am and I had to be back at work at 10:30 am. Nope, I really couldn't get into it right now. I'd just get upset and Eric wasn't even here so that I could feel calmer discussing it with him in person. Our arguments over the phone rattled both our nerves. That time I'd unexpectedly gone to Jackson to help Janice figure out a problem in her salon he was fit to be tied. I got so angry that I told him to take a hike, practically hung up on him and it was pretty tense for the two days I stayed in Jackson. What was the point of talking about things right now and getting both of us more upset? Because I knew he'd be upset that I hadn't told him. He'd said he'd be back tomorrow. This could wait. I texted him back.

_Roses beautiful. Can we talk tomorrow evening when I'm off work? It's late and I have to be up by 8:30 am._

I got undressed, washed my face and brushed my teeth. I filled my glass with water from the bathroom sink and took some valerian. I checked the phone and saw the reply,

_Okay, but this talk we're having. I am worried about you._

I texted back _I am fine_, and crawled into bed with my book. Immediately after pressing send, I thought to myself that I probably should have known better. Denying there was something wrong if Thalia _told_ him something was wrong was just going to make him mad. I should have just said 'okay' instead. Eric replied back, lightening fast,

_Fine? Do not even start with me. Do not. To think that I had to hear about this from Thalia. If you wake up during the night, you had better call me._

He was mad. So I didn't reply. Maybe he'd just leave it alone. After all, he was probably very busy. I should have known better on that one, too. Five minutes later he called.

"So you're just trying to ignore this?" he said with that edge in his voice that I already knew well. I could just envision the look on his face. I was very familiar with that look, too.

"No, I'm trying to go to sleep, as I said in my message."

"How long?"

"I just got into bed," I said, being deliberately evasive by answering the wrong version of that question.

"So I just told fifteen people in a meeting that I had to make a call in order to have you play games with me?" he said, in a mordant tone. He was definitely _very_ mad.

I sighed. "A while. Maybe a month… Six weeks…"

"_Six weeks_? You've been having nightmares when you're on your own, so bad you wake up screaming, for _six weeks_ and you said _nothing_? I can't even begin to tell you how it feels that I didn't feel something was wrong. How sly can you be covering it up so that I couldn't feel it? Is there anything _else _you haven't been telling me?"

"I didn't think about it when I was with you, Eric. I don't have them when I stay with you and I don't always have them when I'm alone. Since I was always fine when I was with you, it just never came up. It wasn't a big issue. It _isn't_ a big issue. I'm _fine_."

"Don't even try that crap with me, Sookie. It is _not_ fine. You know something's wrong and you just don't want to admit it or admit needing help. You are too damn proud. And you never want to ask for anything from anyone. I already called Claudine and left her a message. Some magic leaves traces that aren't obvious. Dieter's magic can literally be like poison. In addition, to the fact that basically, he fucking _terrorized_ you, which would be enough to cause problems for anyone. But Thalia said she thought it was something more than just that. Claudine should be able to help you or she'll get someone who will. And I hope she's as disappointed with you as I am that you couldn't bring yourself to share the fact that you had a problem and needed help. I need to go back. I'll be back home tomorrow night. Pack a bag because you're staying in Shreveport with me, or with Pam when I'm away, until further notice."

Well, that was an earful. Golly gee, I had the distinct impression that Eric was rather upset that I hadn't told him.

"I'm fine here, Eric. Really. Thalia took great care of me. And before that Octavia and Amelia did. I'm _fine_."

"It has nothing to do with that. I need Thalia in New Orleans. You're staying with me or with Pam. The discussion is over. And stop saying you're fine when you're plainly _not_ fine."

"Excuse me? What discussion? I heard a speech. I didn't hear a discussion. You know I hate it when you start with the dictatorial bullshit, Eric. It makes me want to do exactly the opposite of what you want."

"I'm not having an argument with you over the phone. We agreed not to do that after you went to Jackson that time. You _are_ going to Shreveport. I can assure you of it. I have to go. Tomorrow." He hung up.

Well, I love you, too, I thought to myself. I reminded myself he was angry because he cared, because he felt bad that I was having problems and didn't share. But even so…

I settled back into bed but couldn't focus on my book. He said my staying with him or Pam wasn't because of the nightmares but I wasn't so sure. Octavia and Amelia would be back, so I didn't see why I couldn't stay home. Octavia and Amelia had dealt with my nightmares just fine. I'd still have Bill and Bubba to guard. I didn't want to go stay in Shreveport because I did want to hang out in the club all night. And it was going to take so much longer to get to work if I was staying in Shreveport. And would they expect that Tray would have to come and get me there? Surely Eric realized I was going to continue working? At that thought I felt a bit of panic. I really hoped that Claudine could fix me. Quickly.

Just in case Pam knew about it even a bit, I texted Amelia and told her that Eric was really mad about my having the nightmares and not saying anything about it. I figured that she'd take it from there.

**

* * *

  
**

I was awakened around 7:30 am by Claudine gently shaking me. As I stirred she looked down at me with reproachful eyes, arms crossed. I got up and she handed me my robe and wordlessly, we walked out of the bedroom. In the living room, I saw an older woman in a blue suit. She had shoulder length white hair and sparkling brown eyes. But there was something a little odd about her. I realized the alarm was still on in the house, which must mean that she, too, was a fairy and that she'd popped here with Claudine. So much for those nice selective wards that Amelia and Octavia thought they had in place to ward off unknown fairies… Busy work, I'd thought at the time, and indeed it was. The Fae were just unstoppable for most things. My last two conversations with my Grandfather had firmly convinced me of that. If there was a race on this earth that could literally bend anything to their will, it was the Fae. You had to be _very_ clever to outsmart the Fae.

"Sookie, this is Raedself. She would like to have a look at you." She picked up my hand and drew me closer to the woman.

The older woman was about as tall as Claudine, but as I drew closer, it seemed almost as if she was a mirage. She smiled at me, but her eyes and mouth were the only things defined sharply about her appearance to my eyes. Everything else looked a little fuzzy to my eyes.

Raedself sized me up and shook her head, glancing at Claudine. She said, "She sees through the glamour, so I'm dropping it. It's not worth the effort and will make it easier for me to work." She spoke with a German accent, which was chillingly similar to Helga and Dieter's.

She instantly grew further in height as her entire appearance changed. She was soft brown and weathered like a dry leaf. Her slanted eyes were still a dark sparkling brown and her hair was still white but now it was in a thick, long braid that fell over her shoulder and down to her hips. It was woven with something that looked like Spanish moss. Her face was wild and beautiful even though she looked very old. Her clothes appeared to be made of some sort of suede and like her, they too were brown. She smelled like moss, dampness and flowers. I looked up at her, far up, because she was so tall. She had to be about seven feet tall. Maybe taller. With the overall effect of height, slenderness and brown, it was almost like she was a tree. Her mouth, however, was filled with gleaming white, very sharp teeth. If Claudine hadn't been there, I might have been very afraid. My great-grandfather had told me some Fae even eat humans. Not feeding the vampire way, either. It was my first experience with meeting someone Fae who was not quite as human looking as my family. Looking at her, I didn't think she was a fairy. She had to be some other kind of Fae.

Raedself walked around me and then said, "Take off the pendant and put it down, away from you." She could obviously see it even under the nightgown and robe.

I glanced at Claudine, who nodded. I was sincerely hoping that it was not the locket that was the source of the problem because if so, I would never hear the end of it from Eric and I couldn't imagine the arguing between Niall and Eric, either. But then I dismissed that thought. It had kept me safe and I knew that it wasn't my problem. I unfastened the chain and took the necklace off, being careful to refasten it so the ring wouldn't fall off. I handed it to Claudine. Raedself gestured to her to move it away from me and then waved her hand toward me and I felt a sizzle of something flowing over me. It felt like a cloak of something light and airy coating me. Claudine stepped over to put the locket on the coffee table and when she turned her face back around she let out a slight gasp when she looked at me.

Raedself was standing about a meter away from me, regarding me thoughtfully with her hand at her chin.

"She's so dark from it. He really got her, didn't he? It's sort of like a pall. Very interesting. She still looks healthy underneath it all. Amazing resistance. The magic of this bond she has is strong and vibrant. You say the lover is an older vampire?" She looked over at Claudine who nodded to her. "Have you had a lot of his blood?" she asked me.

"Well, what's a lot?" I mean, really, it was a mystery to me as to just how one would quantify something like that. She wasn't even asking about the age of the vampire, which would make a big difference in terms of the power of the blood in whatever amount you had. Was 'older' 500 years to her? 1100 years? Because she, herself, looked really ancient. Though beautiful. In an extremely frightening kind of way.

Raedself nodded. "Well, that's a point. If she'd had a great deal she would have turned and we wouldn't even be having this conversation, anyway. His blood might keep her strong but this," here she gestured sweeping up and down me, "this is serious damage. And yet she has been resilient against it. You resist some magic according to Claudine?" she asked me.

"Well, I guess… I don't get glamoured easily. Not by vampires at all, and I guess not very easily by the Fae. Dieter couldn't glamour me all that well. It's not like I've seen a lot of magic so as to know, really. What exactly do you see? What do you mean by 'dark'?"

Claudine interjected "Dieter could hardly glamour her at all. My uncle Dermot told the Prince that he'd been trying to glamour her for more than a day and she kept resisting it. Dieter got very angry about it according to Dermot."

Raedself waved her hand as if to brush aside my concerns. She looked at Claudine and said curiously, "Give her back the locket to hold. She didn't have this before, correct?"

"No, the Prince gave it to her after." Claudine picked it up and stepped back over to me and put it into my open hand. "It will be fine," she said softly, stroking my arm. "Raedself can fix anything, Sookie."

When I touched the locket again, I realized I actually felt better. Lighter. But it wasn't like I'd felt so terrible without it on, although I had felt a bit different after taking it off. I kept it on all the time, except when I showered and even then sometimes, I left it on. Lately. Really now that I thought about it, I hadn't taken it off in more than three weeks.

"Well, clearly this is what was keeping things under control… or at least slowing it down. He made it very protective," she said looking toward Claudine. "Have you not felt the effects of this growing darkness on you, child?" she asked, turning back to me.

I thought about it and shrugged. I'd been having nightmares. I was sad while Eric was away. I missed him. But I thought I'd been doing pretty well, overall.

"I have bad nightmares about three or four times a week. My boyfriend has been away for a week or so and I've missed him a lot. But I mean, I don't feel any great dark depression or feel sick if that's what you mean. I guess I feel… when I have the nightmares or think about Dieter, I feel angry. I feel angry that I can't just get his influence out of my head. It makes me really mad."

Raedself looked down at me with an almost impish smile and her eyes sparkled. She shook her head and laughed softly.

"It makes you _mad_? You are a most amusing creature, Sookie."

She crossed her arms and looked at me intently. I could suddenly feel her inside my head but she was soft and gentle, unlike Dieter, who was like a sledgehammer. She moved closer to me and then, standing over me, put her hands on my temples. Her fingers were very, very long and thin. She smelled so strongly of woody scented things. Suddenly I felt lightheaded, but though I swayed, I stood my ground and just refocused, clearing my mind. Raedself pulled back a bit and looked at me as if surprised, with her head at an angle. She smiled with those sharp, white teeth. Then I felt a much stronger wave of lightheadedness and I saw a flash of ice green light, which coursed through me. I pulled away from her but the sensation was already gone.

"What was that? What are you trying to do in my mind?" I asked her wide-eyed, shaking my head a bit. I was kind of scared by it.

"Nothing to your mind, little one. It will be fine now and my work is already done." She shook out her hands with her long fingers spread wide and then removed the chain with the locket and ring from my hand and stepped back. She looked at me with her head tilted at a bit of an angle and then nodded and handed me back the locket and the ring. "You will be fine. Dieter's magic was always dark and I believe it was poisoning you, slowly. Even after his death, his magic is strong enough to linger on and do its work. But I have removed the traces of it from you. You do have a natural resistance to some magic. To have resisted his glamouring you was quite a feat. What he left on you was the magic of his venom and anger. You must have made him very angry because you resisted him. You are very resilient, but this would have harmed you greatly in time. You could not fix this yourself, child. You should have sensed that. You were not honest with yourself."

It was a gentle rebuke. I was amazed to think that she had fixed whatever Dieter had done to me so _easily_. How powerful must she be if she had taken mere seconds to undo something that had plagued me for weeks? I suddenly felt almost embarrassed at the idea that I'd been fighting the nightmares for six weeks of my life, making Octavia and Amelia worry about me, while this woman had been able to undo whatever Dieter had done to me in literally seconds. Maybe Eric and Amelia were right, I thought briefly to myself. Maybe I _am_ too stubborn and proud. It was so hard for me to ask for help or even to accept help when it was offered. And from what she said, I had really risked damaging myself by not asking for help this time. Maybe Eric was even right to be so mad at me.

I bowed my head to Raedself and said "I appreciate your time and concern on my behalf." If there was any real thanking to be done, I was leaving it to Claudine. The last thing I wanted was to be indebted to someone with all those teeth.

She smiled down at me and touched my cheek. Her fingers felt like suede. "You are a quaint creature, child. Small as a mouse, but quite fierce in your way. May you be well." She bowed her head to me and then she popped.

Claudine put her arm around me and then picked up the chain from my hand.

"What is the ring?"

I bit my lip, hesitating about what to say. I took the chain back from her.

"It's from Eric." I put it back around my neck. "Claudine, what was she? She isn't a fairy, is she? She must be so old." I would really like to think she didn't eat humans with those shiny white teeth.

"She is Fae, but not Sidhe. An ancient woodland elf of the Black Forest, much older even than the Prince. A great and famous healer and counselor. She was not exactly fond of Dieter. I'm not sure I would even have known where to start trying to help you, Sookie. Niall will owe her a favor for this but he said it was okay. Why did you not tell us that you were plagued with these dreams? Eric's second message said it's been going on for more than a month? We've spoken so many times in that time. And yet you never mentioned it."

Elves were supposed to be reasonably okay in all the stories I've read, I thought to myself. Maybe fierce, but not the type to eat you. And what could I say to Claudine about my not having shared the fact that I was having nightmares about Dieter? At least she was taking it better than Eric had. But Claudine was always so even-tempered. She never lectured. But Eric had a good reason to lecture me this time, I reminded myself yet again.

"I guess I thought I could get the nightmares to stop on my own. If I was very busy, or distracted with other things, they stopped. When I'm around Eric, they stop. I thought I should be able to just stop them on my own. I didn't realize that it could be from anything other than my memories. I admit I was too proud to ask, okay? I admit it. I'm sorry." I glanced up at her, but she didn't look upset. She actually looked distracted. I walked toward the kitchen with her and started making coffee. "Do you want me to make you a hot chocolate?" Claudine loved chocolate. She nodded so I got out milk and some semi-sweet chocolate squares.

Claudine leaned against the kitchen wall but didn't say anything for a few minutes. Finally, in what now seemed like a non sequitur to me, she said,

"What kind of ring?"

"Why, it's an emerald, Claudine," I said flashing her a smile. I could be so bad at times… I decided to chance melting the chocolate in a bit of warm milk and then blending in more, instead of using the double boiler. That way I could use a porcelain Corning saucepan instead of a metal saucepan. Just in case. No iron.

She put her hands on her hips. "Sookie, what kind of a _gift _is it?"

I bit my lip again. Could she really sense it was given with a specific intent? Really the Fae were so clever. I wondered how this was going to play with the fairy side of the family. Well, here goes, I thought…

"Um… it's an engagement ring." I started melting her chocolate and glanced over at her.

Her eyes grew wide. "You're going to marry him?" she said in a whisper.

"Well, he asked me. I've been thinking about it."

She looked sad as she gazed at me. It was like a light in her dimmed a bit.

"Claudine don't look at me so sadly. Nothing would change. Except where I live."

"I will not be able to see you if you are turned, Sookie. Not for many years, perhaps not ever. You'll be too _hungry_." She looked at me as if she might cry. I was originally her 'job' but we had really become firm friends. In recent months we'd spent a fair amount of time together, just having fun. We chatted often, read books together, went window shopping, to the movies.

"I don't _want_ to be turned. And I trust Eric."

She looked away and was silent.

I went over and picked up her hand and looked at her face, which was shadowed. "What, Claudine? What are you thinking? I thought you liked Eric? You certainly talk to him often enough if you're getting messages from him in the middle of the night."

She looked down at me and said, "I know you love him, Sookie. I guess what he feels for you is… love. But that night, with the Prince… Sometimes he is so violent, Sookie. There is so much violence in all of them. And you are so gentle in comparison. You didn't _see_ him that night. The thought of you truly _living_ among them, for good…? It's different the way things are now, with you living apart from them." She shook her head sadly.

I sighed and let go of her hand to return to the stove and stir the melting the chocolate. I slowly added more milk and stirred for a long time. I added a bit more sugar, thinking carefully before speaking. I would not hurt or offend Claudine's feelings for all the world but I couldn't let her view go unchallenged because I just couldn't agree with it. Vampires violent in comparison to the Fae? Really!

"Claudine, I think that like anything else, there is always good and bad. There are good vampires and really horrible vampires. Just like there are good Fae and really horrible Fae. I've seen Eric fight. I've _know_ what he is. But I've also seen Eric go to lengths to avoid violence. In fact, that's how I got to know him. I know the vampires can be violent. I know they can do terrible things. But look at Dieter, Claudine. And what about this Welsh fairy Gwynn, or those Fae that would eat any human that happened along their path? Are _they_ any better than a vampire? I don't want to be turned. If Eric gives me his word, I believe he will keep it. And he does love me, Claudine. I can feel it that he does. He's done a hard thing in loving me. It would have been easier for him to kill me than to do what he's done. Vampires don't like having these kinds of feelings. It is hard for them. It makes them remember their human lives and they think stuff like that weakens them. It makes it harder for them to tell themselves the stuff they do is okay. It challenges everything they think about humans and their superiority over them, to love or even really like a human. When I can even change someone like Thalia's thinking, you can see they are right to view real relationships with humans as risky. It shakes their sense of the world order because it starts to remove humans from just being in the food chain. That opens all kinds of issues of morals and ethics and self-questioning. Stuff they just hate to deal with."

"And how hard is it to know someone you love is going to age and die while you go on without them, Sookie? You say he really loves you. Can you really think he won't turn you?"

"If Eric gives me his word, he won't. I know him, Claudine. He keeps his word. He has a real sense of honor. Even Niall knows that."

"If he really loves you as you say, then it is unkind of you."

My eyes widened when she said it. I didn't know how to reply that one.

She was just silent. I served the hot chocolate into a mug. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down with Claudine. We just drank and were silent. After a few minutes she said,

"You should probably tell the Prince. He always asks whether he should visit. He hasn't seen you since you returned from that dreadful Las Vegas trip. He would want to know if you plan to marry, Sookie."

I frowned but nodded in agreement. Niall and I still had our issues. He'd finally told me, between the last two times we'd visited, all kinds of information. He would mostly answer my questions directly when I asked them now. He had protected Eric and that meant a lot to me. In a weird way, I thought he almost liked Eric, as much as a fairy was ever going to like a vampire. But I was ever mindful of the fact that when he first met me, he had offered, quite casually, to kill Eric to get rid of our bond. I knew now that he'd really meant it. This was in spite of the fact that he said he'd known Eric for some time and even that Eric had done things for him in the past. Even in spite of the fact that he recently told me that Eric was honorable. And he would have tried to kill him? I didn't think Niall would try anything like that now, but only because he knew harming Eric would really harm me. It was troubling to me how easily vampires and the Fae would just kill to solve their problems. Claudine was kind and gentle, but it was really the pot calling the kettle black for the Fae to say the vampires were the evil ones. Frankly, I'd yet to meet a vampire as scary as Dieter and I'd seen some pretty nasty vampires. In my experience vampires tend to select the victims of their cruelty for specific reasons, like disloyalty. They also tended to go after their own kind more than others, at least in modern times. Dieter was not discriminating in that respect. He just took pleasure in killing and cruelty with anybody handy. It was literally a kind of sustenance to him and he'd clearly take it where he could get it.

Claudine and I went on chatting for a short while longer and made plans to go book shopping the following day. She said she'd come get me, so that I wouldn't run into worries with having to have an escort. She showed me the text message she was sending Eric about my being recovered. She told me I should not mention Raedself to anybody. She said she was sure Eric knew of her, though. After hugging me goodbye, she popped. I thought about calling Niall but talked myself into doing it later.

I showered and got ready for work and called Tray only to find that he was already waiting out on the porch at 10:15 am. I heard his phone ring outside as I was hearing it ring through my phone. I reset the alarm and headed on out, greeting him warmly, trying to make up for yesterday afternoon. He seemed like he wasn't bothered anymore, though. We drove off to Merlotte's in his truck and chatted easily on the way.


	5. Chapter 5

**V.**

Throughout the day and the afternoon on Saturday, I felt a bit on edge. Sam seemed a bit sad. I had the feeling that Amelia had told him she thought I was going to leave. But I couldn't say much about it right now. I didn't know anything about what Eric's plans really were. I didn't know what my plans were beyond serving lunch.

In spite of feeling edgy because of all the uncertainties, I was actually feeling better than I had in days, or maybe even weeks. I felt more energetic, and it made me question how much energy I had been putting into holding at bay whatever traces of Dieter's magic had been left on me. I guess it was far more than I had realized. Of course, another part of my being chipper was that Eric was going to be back, even if I thought I was going to have to listen to some lecture about the whole business with the nightmares.

I got off work at 6:30 pm and Tray drove me back to the house. I took a shower and changed, putting on a pair soft lounge pants and a matching top in a dark red. I made myself a salad and a sautéed chicken breast for dinner, since Amelia still wasn't coming back until Thalia was gone. I painted my nails quickly after eating and then sat down with my book, waiting for the sun to go down around 8 pm. At almost precisely 8 pm, I heard movement in Octavia's room, and I knew Thalia was rising. I went to the kitchen and got out two bottles of True Blood and heated them in the microwave. Not too warm. She came out while still buttoning up her blouse and literally grabbed a bottle. I had to say, I was really thinking at this point that she hadn't just been teasing Octavia about waking up two hours early because she was hungry. It was amazing to me that someone so tiny and so old could pack away the blood the way Thalia could. She really did appear to rise in a ravenous state. She was so different from Eric, which I found almost funny since he was about a foot and a half taller than she was. You'd think he'd be much hungrier. She said 'thank you' which was certainly more than she'd been doing the first few days, although now if I was home at sunset I always had the bottles ready for her.

Thalia downed the first bottle while scrolling through messages on her Blackberry. She told me that Eric would be here around 11 pm. She was probably going to leave right after he arrived because she had to pack things at her apartment for her trip. I was curious about whether Eric was going to shift Thalia to New Orleans to handle his security there but I didn't want to ask questions. She sat down at the kitchen table, finishing her second bottle while doing email. After she had gone through all her email, during which time she said a lot of stuff that sounded like cursing in various languages, she went back to Octavia's room to pack her things. She came out with her bags and set them near the front door then sat next to me on the couch. I suggested watching a movie while we waited. She chose _Underworld_, which Amelia had bought a few weeks ago. I didn't think it was going to foster much werewolf love on her part, but said it was fine by me. She laughed during the movie as if she was watching a slapstick comedy.

At 10:30 pm, around the time the movie was finishing I started getting the warm boost that let me know Eric was nearby. As the movie ended, Thalia rose and went out on the front porch. She came back in and said that Eric was over at Bill's place. About five minutes later, it seemed as if Eric just alighted quietly on the porch and came right in all in one move. He was wearing all black and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes were flashing as if he'd been angry but his expression cleared quickly. I sat in the armchair smiling up at him, while Thalia bowed low before him, saying "Your Majesty". Still bowing, Thalia glanced back at me giving me a dark look, so I rose. Eric didn't seem to care one way or another. All he seemed to be interested in was my left hand. His entire face seemed to relax even more as soon as he saw the ring and then he met my eyes. He smiled. After speaking briefly with Thalia, she departed, nodding farewell to me as she left. While the door was open I saw several huge figures outside on the porch. I must have looked alarmed. I glanced back through kitchen and saw that there was another figure out on the back porch as well. They were at least as tall as Eric and I didn't even think they were vampires. I wasn't asking.

Eric took me in his arms and hugged me. "Guards. Just guards, Lover" he said reassuringly. He took my left hand in his and looked down at me with eyes that just shone with happiness. "So, yes?" he asked expectantly taking my hand and looking at the ring.

"Yes, if you give me your word," I said softly, meeting his gaze firmly.

The smile faded just slightly. "My word?"

"Your word. Never without my agreement, or without my knowledge or ability to agree." He knew what I meant.

He looked into my eyes and I felt a wave of some emotion from him but I couldn't grasp quite what the emotion was. He finally nodded once and then he said softly, "I give you my word."

"Then, yes. Happily." I kissed his hand that was holding mine and led him to the couch so we could sit.

He sort of pursed his lips. "You're too trusting. You should ask me for guarantees about having anyone else turn you," he said as he sat down. He didn't look at me as he said it. He just stared off in space.

"Honestly, Eric, are you suggesting that you'd get Pam or someone else to do it? I know you too well for that. For one thing I can't believe you'd want me answering to anyone else, even Pam…" I nestled myself next to him on the couch and put his arm around me.

"If anyone else turned you, you'd still be mine. You've had too much of my blood not to be mine, Sookie."

I just stared up at him, a bit aghast that he could even suggest such a thing. On the other hand, I could be pragmatic enough to realize it was a measure of safety in case anyone else ever had ideas about turning me. It was a possibility I wouldn't want to entertain. Stan had been turned, as I understood it from Pam, because he was a telepath. His sire had wanted to harness his abilities permanently. But Eric _deliberately_ getting someone else to turn me? I just couldn't see it.

"You wouldn't do something like that, Eric. I just don't believe you would ever do that." Not unless I was very mistaken about the sort of person he was and I was sure I was not. If he was going to do something against my will, I knew he would do it himself. And I just couldn't see his ever doing that.

"I will honor your wishes, even if I hope you will change your mind. I hope to convince you. I won't lie to you about what I want. I can give you my word but I still want what I want, Sookie," he said looking me straight in the eyes.

"Eric, I am of far greater use to you alive and warm, human and a bit fae, than I would ever be as vampire."

He stiffened and gave me one of his looks that really cut me to the bone. He wasn't angry exactly, but he was seriously edging toward it, I thought to myself. I could even see his fangs down a bit.

"You just don't get it, Sookie. That's your misconception?" he said with more than a trace of bitterness. "That I need you to be 'of use' to me? I have plenty of people around me who are of use to me. I want you to be _with _me. But fine. It doesn't matter right now. We have years to work it out. I just want to know that you will be with me now. I can be patient. Being patient is something I've gotten quite used to with _you_. It's pretty much par for the course."

Well… ouch. I didn't really know what to say. I'd just agreed to marry him and now I already wondered how long we could coexist with such differing wishes? Just even the practical aspect of becoming vampire if we have a real relationship bothered me. I had really given it serious thought. I could, amazingly, get past the whole idea that the person I loved most wanted to kill me and make me a vampire. Like Pam, I could just brush that aside at this point. It was bad enough to think of no sunshine, no Claudine and even no Claude, and think of all the inherent violence of the vampire world. But even that wasn't the biggest problem in my eyes. No matter what anyone said about True Blood, vampires still wanted real blood and most of them got it having sex. So what do you do if you're both vampires? My only examples of genuine vampire long-term couples were Bill and Lorena (talk about twisted) or perhaps more successfully, Sophie-Anne and Andre, and Sophie-Anne appeared to keep herself quite busy with her lovers, Hadley being one of them. Eric had at least implied that Andre was no different. If vampire couples seldom stayed together as a _real_ couple anyway, then what's the whole point, I asked myself? Why would it even matter to him if I were turned, anyway? Either way, if there would be some sort of end point to the romantic relationship, I'd frankly prefer my end point to include still being able to see sunrises or sunsets, spending time with my cousins without thinking I might want to drain them and most of all, not looking forward to an eternity of basically being alone. I was just silent, however. I'd seen him for all of about an hour in the past week and a half and had no interest in starting an argument.

I let that inborn Southern hospitality break the tension of the moment.

"Do you want a True Blood?"

"Sure," he replied. I felt a wave of relief from him. He really didn't want to argue either.

I got up and heated the bottle and brought it back out to the living room. He took it and put his arm back around me when I sat down. I felt he had covered everything with that blanket of calm that was now so characteristic of Eric, whenever anything bothered him where I was concerned. He drank and we just sat quietly for a few minutes.

Finally he said, "So Claudine thinks you are recovered from the traces of Dieter's magic. I talked to her when I on the way up from New Orleans." He played with my hair gently.

"Yes," I said softly. I cringed and waited for the big lecture.

He put the empty bottle down on the coffee table and then turned my face toward him and stroked my cheek. "_Never again_, Lover," he said sternly with one eyebrow raised. Then he kissed me softly on the lips. He rose and extended his hand. "We should leave. I need to head to the club."

I stiffened. I was already caught off guard by the lack of a lecture, but the _We_? He was sticking to his plan from the night before, in spite of the fact that Claudine had fixed everything?

"But I'm fine. I thought since everything was fine, I could just stay here," I said. I didn't want to go to Fangtasia for hours. I wouldn't mind staying at his house but I doubt he'd leave me there alone.

He towered over me and smiled. "No. You're coming with me. It's safer. When I go back, if you wish, I'll ask Pam to stay with you here and I'll have security arranged for you in the daytime. I'm sure you'll need time to get things organized. But for now, you're staying with me, so that I can really keep an eye on you."

"But I have plans tomorrow with Claudine."

"I know, and she'll come get you in Shreveport. We discussed it earlier to night. It's already decided."

But not by me, I thought to myself. _I_ didn't get to decide. How is this _ever_ going to work? This isn't going to be me, my life, if I just give in to letting everyone else decide things. What have I agreed to? Suddenly, I started to feel a sense of real panic.

His hand was still extended toward me at my eyelevel. I stared at it like it was a steel-jaw trap. Suddenly, he knelt down in front of me and looked at me intensely. He picked up my hand. "Sookie," he said softly, "I'm not seizing control of your life. Don't look at me that way. Yes, I want to be absolutely sure that you're not still going through the trauma of whatever Dieter did. You told me you were fine when you were with me. So you'll be with me, as much as possible. But I also want you with me, because I want you _safe_. Our attachment is well known, and it's simply not safe for you to be on your own. I trusted things with Thalia here, but now, I want you with me. Besides, I also want us to have a meeting with Alcide Herveaux tomorrow. I would like his advice on something. Pack some things and we'll go, alright?"

I looked into those deep blue eyes. His cool, long fingers held my hand. He pushed some of my hair behind my ear.

"Trust me, Lover" he said softly.

**

* * *

  
**

It was almost 4 am and he was pretty much done for the night. There was still so much organizing that would have to be done, but they'd made good headway. He came back into the office to check on her. He stood looking at her.

She had fallen asleep on the couch in the office while reading her book. She had flatly refused to go sit out in the bar with Pam and Maxwell. She was wearing one of his jackets and had an oversized bath towel draped over her like a blanket. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. She was pleasingly pink. He was hungry just looking down at her. His nostrils flared as he inhaled her scent. He thought of her beautiful skin. After really feeding only once in the past ten days, he was simply ravenous. But he could wait a little longer. Hurting her, as he was worried he might have done the other day, was just not acceptable. No more rushing. He'd wait until they were in the house, until she was awake enough to be really aroused and want him to feed from her. How he enjoyed having someone with whom he really wanted to be gentle, to give real pleasure. To feel her body arch toward him with more than just simple desire, to see the way she looked at him… He looked at the ring on her hand, which was draped over the book on her chest. She had agreed yet she was, he sensed, very ambivalent.

_At least I have told her the truth. She doesn't see the intensity of my desire to keep her. She clearly does not understand it. I don't know that I fully understand it myself. But I won't give her up. I simply won't. And what choice did I have but to give her my word? If I hadn't, she would leave. It was plain to see. But still, she is so trusting. And now I'm right where Pam predicted I would be. I cannot face the idea of destroying her trust, of what it could do to our bond. And I cannot face the idea of losing her. Seeing her there, feeling her panic, looking into her eyes, I can see there is still a risk of losing her. Even though she loves me, even though she is mine. She fights to be independent of me like an animal caught in a trap. If I am not careful she will harm herself just to get away. No matter how angry she makes me saying it, Pam is right. If it isn't done in the right way, at the right time, and with her complete consent, she will take the first available moment and as Pam says, she'll stay up to get 'one final tan'. That thought just harrows me. And I have no doubts that she would be brave enough to do it. The woman I saw resist Dieter would walk through fire for what she believed. She can barely compromise with me, let alone with herself. If she hated what she became, it would be disastrous. This will require great care and great patience._

_But even Claudine obviously thinks that she's going to give in and be turned. She said that she, and Niall, will not be happy if they see they are finally 'losing her'. Well, too fucking bad. Who has really taken care of her, who has loved her, who was willing, even when it was hard, to tell her the fucking truth every time, even if she wasn't going to like it. They certainly didn't. She spends more time with me than she ever has even with Claudine. She is mine, and I _will_ have her. What has Niall brought her other than problems so far? I still don't know what his real agenda is with her. He doesn't want to look at her wishes, didn't like it that we are so strongly bound to one another. Even she doesn't want to look at her wishes, because they frighten her. _

_I supposed that I'm lucky she still said yes in spite of my becoming King. So typical of her that it seems to have actually made her less inclined. How many women in her position would feel _less_ inclined to accept a proposal because their lover gained more status? I'll clearly never have to worry about her letting any of it go to her head. Pam actually thought there was a chance she'd say no. Even if she figured out most of it, I can tell Sookie is still so puzzled as to why I was willing to do this, to become King. Really what fucking choice did I have? Roberto didn't want this state. And Stan didn't either. Like hell would I work for Russell. Another regime, more upheaval, more chance of losing more of everything, including my people. More risk to her. No, this was the only reasonable choice and at least now I will make my own rules and serve no one. Maybe the Alliance will work to ensure better stability. And perhaps in improving things, it will also improve things from her point of view. By furthering mainstreaming on a broader level as we plan, in the end it may help convince her. It will certainly benefit all of us to have our image improved in the world at large. Helping perceptions of vampires rise above the archaic. Better PR, better spin, it's all doable. And really, with all the weak-minded out there, there is so much easy food these days there is just no need to kill anyone for it anymore. If we keep the donor ratio high and allow only a limited number of turns for each of us, there will be no need to do anymore hunting and killing. At least not for food…_

_So now I will have the freedom to do things my way. I will make my own rules and do things my style. And we will change the way business is conducted in this state. No more special deals according to who you curried favor with. Madden was so fucking corrupt. All the Sheriffs will be held to the same standard. It was incredible that Bill Compton was so pissed I will not make him a Sheriff… well too bad. He will do better to remain as an investigator. Maxwell has earned it, and is far more level-headed. There is still something I don't like about Compton. I just don't like the way he handles things. And it's not just the way he was with Sookie, though it led to his being that way with her. But he's too weakened to have done the job anyway… a safe argument to have made…_

Her eyes flew open as if she suddenly felt the intensity of his gaze. She stretched, almost invitingly, and yawned. He quickly smiled at her.

"Eric? What is it? You kinda looked mad before."

_She's always so quick to take things in…_ "Just business, Lover. Just thinking about business. We can leave soon. I'm just waiting for a conference call from Roberto, Stan and Joseph."

"Ah. The Alliance crew…"

"Yes." But then the awaited call arrived.

He watched her every move as he listened to his call. She rose and stretched again, then folded up the towel and placed it back in the cabinet near the door. He could tell she was listening to his side of the conversation, even though she looked otherwise. Missouri was already trying to cause problems in the agreement. Fucking Winston, he had been a problem for his neighbors for years and Stan should have known that he'd continue to be. Now he was in Joseph's backyard and causing trouble to the new and inexperienced King. She sat down on the couch and took up her book and went back a few pages as if to review what she had read as she became sleepy. Still listening to him, though, he noted. Clearly, he didn't care if she listened, since he hadn't asked her to leave, so she listened, which was shrewd on her part. She glanced over at him, as if understanding his thoughts, then returned to the book. He wondered if she'd really _never_ read vampires minds. He was so certain that sometimes she had. Rhodes. Maybe even before then. It would be useful if she could. But she wasn't sharing that. Really, looking at the thing with Madden planning that trap in Vegas… how did she know about that? She'd met him once before that trip. She couldn't know his style because he'd never mentioned much about him. She was very clever, but still… He'd wondered before and brushed the idea aside, but now he was curious again. He was going to have to explore that, carefully, so that she wouldn't get fearful about his questioning. He had to make it plain that he didn't view it as a threat, that it was actually an advantage. Plus it was important to know before having her around Stan again. She was reading her book now, but still, he thought, listening and absorbing everything. He was sure she had already pieced together much of the issue of the Alliance and its formation in the weeks and months that followed their little adventure in Vegas. She is so sharp, he thought to himself. Like Pam, so observant. Always thinking outside the box, seeing the broader implications of things.

_Such a good mind she has. She is such a clever companion, so much worth having just for that, even on top of everything else. She will be a magnificent vampire. Because I'm not letting her go. I won her and she's mine. I haven't gone through all of this to just let it go. It is just a matter of being patient. She has no idea how patient I can be when it comes to getting what I want. No idea._


	6. Chapter 6

**VI.**

It was less than an hour before dawn. We were just lying in bed. I'd fallen asleep on the couch in Eric's office at Fangtasia for several hours, then we'd come back to his house. I was trying to play along, even though I was ambivalent about things. After making love, we were chatting in the darkness, holding hands, I rested my cheek against Eric's silent chest.

"You knew right after we were in Vegas, didn't you? You always said you would never want to do something like this. So why now?"

"I learned of the entire plan that night I met with Stan in Tyler. I already knew something was up because of Roberto's manner that night with Felipe. He would have flipped if _you_ hadn't turned the tables on Felipe. We would have taken Felipe out then. It was plain to me that night that at least Roberto had a plan. And Roberto made it possible for me to take out Madden. I just didn't know the scope of his plan with Stan. And as for why? What other choice was there? Roberto always thought it was a bad idea to takeover two states so far away from their base but Felipe didn't believe him. Louisiana has so many infrastructure problems post-Katrina, on top of it. Roberto really was not interested in continuing the connection. He's happy with Nevada. Stan's still recovering from Rhodes and Texas is huge. Joseph couldn't do both Louisiana and Arkansas. If I wouldn't do it, Stan suggested Russell as an option but he knew I'd never go for that. I wouldn't work for Russell and Stan knows it. Not my style. Then we'd still have to move to Dallas and I could only take you and Pam. So really, this was the best and only solution. No new regime to adjust to and everyone left from Sophie-Anne's times already knows me and knows my style. I keep all my people, which keeps them happy. It does give me the freedom to make my own rules. And with this alliance, we have a chance to change things fundamentally, to finally really modernize. No more hierarchical associations, but real alliance of common interest and purpose without all the archaic trappings. We are going to be advancing the cause of mainstreaming in at least ten of the fifty US states. We expect more will join us. Roberto, Stan, Joseph and I really do share a common vision about how to operate. I'm committed to it and I believe it will work. It should make things safer, too. To move against one would be to take on all of the rest. Anyone would think twice about trying a takeover."

I was silent while he continued to talk about the evolving vampire world, sort of passively absorbing the information. Part of me was still considering what he'd said earlier, at my house. That he didn't need me to be useful to him that he just wanted me with him. In the end, was I being unfair with him, just the way Claudine said? Maybe we shouldn't get married. Maybe this was all a mistake. I just couldn't see being turned. I was already giving up so many things as it was, not the least of which appeared would be my freedom to be on my own since he was going to be a King, which had never been part of the deal when I said I'd move to Dallas. _How much was too much to give up? _I didn't want to end up feeling unhappy and resentful. It would just end up hurting him because _he_ felt what _I_ felt. Eric would never admit to being hurt. Being hurt to him was the same as being mad. But I didn't want to hurt him, or make him mad, because I loved him. This was just a mess. Where do you draw the line, I thought to myself. When you really love someone, _where_ exactly do you draw the line? Because sure as I was drawing a line for myself, I was asking so much of him in the process. But I'd already said yes. Well, who knew it was possible to have love and sheer panic intermingled? I was lying there next to him and frankly thinking I should just bail in order to save us both a lot of heartache.

Eric had stopped talking and was just looking down at me, while I rested my head against his chest, my legs tangled with his. He clearly felt it.

"We'll work it out, Sookie. It will be fine," he whispered to me.

"You always sound so certain of everything Eric. How do you know it will work out? Personally, I'm just about having a panic attack, lying here thinking about how much _not_ working out this could end up being." I said, gloomily.

"I gave you my _word_," he said softly. His voice was so deep with my ear resting against his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair.

"That's not what I meant. How do you know this will work between us? We seem to want totally different things. How is that ever going to work?" I would like to think that we wouldn't end up hating each other, for instance.

"You know, Roberto just got married. His wife is a Were. She's thirty-six. She's a white wolf with copper eyes. She's very striking. She likes being a wolf."

"You saw her changed? Saw her wolf?" I said surprised. The moon hadn't been full the third week of April. I paid attention to the phases carefully now, because of Jason. She must really like it if she was changing when she didn't have to do so.

"I did. She was in his rooms, resting. We were talking there and she came in. She had run with several Vegas wolves. I guess just for enjoyment. She sat there at his side, in wolf form for the rest of the evening."

"Will he turn _her_?" I asked sharply, kind of steeling myself for the answer while remembering how Jake Purifoy had been after Hadley had turned him, thinking she was doing him a kindness. Miserable. Jake had been absolutely miserable.

"No," said Eric softly. As if he could almost follow my train of thought, he said, "They had heard about Jake Purifoy. I told them you even knew him a bit. Roberto told me that he couldn't take her ability to shift away from her. It was too much a part of her nature. That it was too much to ask. They have been together a long time. Since he was in law school."

"Roberto's a _lawyer_?" I asked, really amazed.

"Yes, he went to night school for five years, and passed the bar in both Texas and Nevada, right after the revelation" said Eric with a chuckle. "They met at SMU in the nineties. She's from Austria but stayed here because of him. They were a couple long before it was an accepted thing for vampires to be involved with Weres."

"He used to live in Dallas? That's how he knows Stan?"

"Roberto was one of Stan's attorneys," said Eric with a chuckle. "That's why it's so funny that Felipe hired him, and let him rise higher and higher over the past five years. Roberto was still attached to Stan's camp and definitely wants to run things on the up and up. Remember how disgusted he was with Victor Madden, when he attacked you- breaking the law, inside the hotel, in front of witnesses, after Felipe had conferred protection on you, and doing it all on Felipe's own property? Breaking human laws, vampire laws… He really didn't appreciate Madden very much. He told me he always thought that Madden was incredibly reckless and couldn't believe that Felipe continued to use him."

"Well, that explains the contract, then… He's contractually obligated not to kill anyone I discover committing crimes, at least not without some kind of due process." I said with a smile. Of course, Roberto had helped Eric get rid of Victor Madden, from what Eric had said only moments ago. Roberto had told Victor that he was 'done' and evidently had Eric do the dirty work.

"Roberto," Eric said, shifting his arm around me, "is now a _serious_ fan of yours, Sookie. You know the embezzler on the Gaming Board? Well, guess whom he was working with? Madden. They were friends. Seems like Madden had several 'side' ventures they found out about through some careful questioning of this other vampire. Roberto is also positive that Madden let Sigebert survive on purpose, just as you implied. The whole thing backfired, though. In part, again, thanks to you. And he still relishes how you told Felipe off about me and that there was simply nothing that Felipe could do about it. And then the info about the surveillance of the roulette tables. Roberto is very much for going by the letter of the law if you're trying to mainstream. He will happily hire you as a consultant for the casino and you'll probably get even more business from other states. The decree of protection was his idea, to make it safer for you to work in any Alliance state. But Russell is asking about having you do his casinos, too, and I'm not sure I'd like that idea. The idea of you in Salome's casino in Tunica, for instance, is rather unappealing, to say the least."

Given that Salome had been Mickey's sire, as in she _selected_ him to turn, I was going to share that sentiment. I didn't want to think about what had happened to Victor's friend Marcus. 'Careful questioning' by wrathful vampires even if they were very well educated? No thank you. Even thinking about what Eric had possibly done to Victor was something I didn't want to contemplate. Strike that. I knew Eric had killed Victor in some totally gruesome way and probably even enjoyed it, because Victor had hurt me. I really shouldn't lie to myself about it… It was like I had this mental dichotomy, that I could separate _my_ Eric from that other one. It wasn't healthy and I should be honest with myself. I owed him that much. Even if they were talking about playing 'nice vampires' in the Alliance, I knew it was a bit more complicated than that. They really were predators, after all. Just like Weres. You couldn't expect them to just turn that off and totally forget about it.

I was silent for a time, just resting against Eric. I guess he was trying to reassure me that it was possible to have things work even if I wouldn't be turned. But even beyond that I still had so many questions and I still felt pretty darn stressed. I could work for Roberto, but that was three days a month. What else would fill my days? Would I be able to work, or even go anywhere at all with being minded by a bodyguard? I wondered what Liesel Schall's life would be, and even if Roberto had some of the same feelings that Eric seemed to have.

"Doesn't he care that his wife doesn't want be turned?" I asked quietly. He could make it sound like Roberto was so accepting of his wife's choice and that it was reasonable. But I knew Eric wasn't that accepting, no matter _what_ he'd promised me. He'd promised he wouldn't do anything against my will, but not that he'd give up trying to wear me down on the issue.

"I'm sure he does. But that didn't stop him from marrying her."

Well, I couldn't stand it any longer. What they were doing didn't matter. What _we_ were doing did. What a big mistake we could be making.

"Eric, do you _really_ want to get married? I just worry that we're making a mistake. I worry that we're going to end up being unhappy because we want different things. Maybe we…"

He cut me off right away as if he knew where I was headed. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't mean it. You already said yes, and you meant it, too. So that's what we're doing. Things will work out, Lover. Between us, they always do."

"So I'm supposed to just trust that it will all be fine? I should uproot my life, leave my lifelong home and move to New Orleans, expecting that we'll be happy even if we _start out_ disagreeing? Really."

"You're going to be very happy with me. We'll _both _be very happy. I'm sure of it."

He was always so damn confident. From the very beginning. If I wasn't so worried I'd have been extremely annoyed. 'My future lover', or 'I like being like this and you'll like it, too.' 'We'll both be very happy.' It was maddening. It was like he would make things the way he wanted by sheer force of will or something.

"I'm never going to get used to you telling me 'how it's going to be', Eric."

"But I'm always right. I thought we _both_ knew that?" he said with a wry tone.

I sighed heavily and sat up to look at him crossly. "I swear, I really think that you at least _act_ like you are the smuggest person I've ever met. I'm really worried we're making a mistake and I'm trying to have a _serious_ conversation here! Now who's playing games?" I pushed his shoulder.

"Smug? Me? As in overly self-confident or excessively proud? Självbelåten, we could say in Swedish? No, maybe egenkär?" He scratched his chin. "No, that's not really me. I'm _justifiably_ confident. Arrogant, maybe? Överlägsen? Inbilsk? Frankly, I've been called worse. Just plain proud… stolt? That one, I'd be willing to admit. Justifiably confident and plain proud. Now, if we're talking _too_ proud, Lover, I think you wrote the book on excessive pride. After all, anyone who is even too proud to admit that she's having serious problems with nightmares is pretty…" I whacked him with my pillow at that point.

The pillow fight ended only moments after it began, with my realization that almost any kind of fight, with someone who is preternaturally fast and strong and who knows exactly where you're ticklish, is a losing battle. All the pillows were on the floor and I was flat on my back, trying to catch my breath, while he, still laughing, straddled my waist with his thighs. At least he didn't get my feet.

He leaned down and lifted my chin slightly and kissed me. His eyes glowed in the waning candlelight. He smiled and said softly,

"Just trust me, Lover. We'll be fine."


	7. Chapter 7

**VII.**

**July 1, 2013**

I awoke at 10 am, feeling self-indulgent that I'd slept so late. But it was my birthday, so I was going to cut myself some slack. I rolled over and saw that he'd fallen asleep with a book, yet again. I pried it out of his cold, stiff hands, marked his place and put the book at his side. I combed my fingers through his hair and kissed him tenderly. Then I got up to shower and dress. After putting on my robe, I exited the secure room and went out into the main portion of the master bedroom. The hot shower felt heavenly. I brushed out my hair but left it loose for a change. I went into the closet to select clothes and found in my lingerie drawer the little gift bag that I was sure would be only the first excess of the day. I opened it to find the ruby earrings that I had seen when I was out with Pam antiquing two weeks before. Too clever by halves, I said to myself… Eric was just too sly. I was betting they'd been purchased right after I'd left the shop. I sighed and put them on. I looked at the handwritten card in the little bag, _Already__ complaining? The day is young, Lover._ I laughed out loud. Eric really knew me too well. I put on an old, comfortable cranberry raw silk shirt, a pair of black linen pants and black flats.

After dressing and grabbing my cell phone, I headed out of the bedroom and down the long hallway, past Pam's and Tan's room and that of Thalia and her girlfriend. I skipped down the stairs and headed off to the kitchen. Emily, our dedicated housekeeper, bounced up from reading the paper and beamed.

"Happy Birthday, Sookie!" There was a vase filled with columbines on the table. They were a real favorite of mine. They weren't even in season, since they were more of a spring flower. Where on earth had she gotten them?

"Thanks, Emily," I said with a smile. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down with her and started glancing through the newspaper. "Your brother continuing on the mend?" Emily and her brother were fraternal twins, both first born Were twins, thus a real rarity among their kind. The only other Were twins I knew of were Hallow and her brother. Emily and Edwin had turned out much better than those two. But Edwin had been hit by a car on the full moon back on the 23rd in June. Drunk driver. It had been a very bad accident and if he hadn't been a Were he probably wouldn't have lived.

"He's doing much better, thanks. What can I whip up for you this morning?"

"Just the usual. Wow, look at this photo from the Botanical Garden. I have to show this to Eric." It was great PR. The photo showed a philanthropic event that was held in the Northman Pavilion, and mentioned the pavilion's great popularity.

In the seven years since Eric had become King of Louisiana, a full ten percent of vampire-based revenue in the state had gone to post-Katrina reconstruction. Even now, the Northman Fund was still aiding in the rebuilding, especially among minorities who had been marginalized by some state government funded programs. There had been a fall off in public interest after about the third year after the hurricane and many reconstruction efforts had stagnated. But not the Northman Fund. The fund was still active in rebuilding. Healthcare was another serious problem in the New Orleans area, since so many professionals had departed after the storm and not returned. The Northman Fund had an active program trying to attract healthcare practitioners back to the area. Eric was even interested in the levees, which were still plagued with problems. He'd been in Louisiana for almost a hundred years and was determined to help with rebuilding and better preparation for any future storms.

Emily put my toast down in front of me with the jar of apricot preserves and said, "You sure you don't want anything special, Sookie? It's your birthday, after all."

"No, just the usual," I said, while spreading the preserves on the toast. "I don't know where you got columbines at this time of year, Emily. That's like magic or something. So is anybody else up?"

"No, just you. Anne went to bed when Thalia did according to Rico. Who knows about Tan? He was meditating or something when I got here at 8 am. I can't tell whether he's asleep or awake when he's like that. Frankly, he freaks me out sometimes. I think he went up to their room, though."

Anne was Thalia's girlfriend of the past six months. She had just started staying with Thalia during the day. We were all hush, hush about it because the idea of Thalia taking up with someone with that degree of seriousness was rather amazing. Rico, or Frederico, was one of the guards on watch from close to dawn to midafternoon or dusk. He was a mix of demon and Fae. He'd come to us indirectly through Niall. Fae blood or no, I was very sure no one would ever think about messing with Rico, though according to Eric, he smelled mostly like ash and soot. Many vampires were afraid of him. Unglamoured, he stood about seven feet tall, had a charcoal skin color and had eyes that glowed like flames. Whenever there was trouble, he dropped his glamour (that of a somewhat tall pale and freckled human man) and had been known to really terrify people just by growling. He could destroy anything just by touch if he chose, but was normally a peaceful individual. He had been much maligned by the Fae and a bit of an outcast among demons. He was really happy to have found a place with us. He lived in the entire basement of the compound along with another part Fae and demon guard and he sometimes hung around upstairs even after dark. What he ate was rather frightening. Everything from trees to cows to reportedly the occasional person who had caused him trouble. Really. But that was a long time ago. He was pretty old and said he didn't do things like that any more. I had learned an immense amount of information about the Fae, about demons, and about a host of other creatures directly from Rico, or with his help. Rico had become my friend and he was very fond of me. Which was a very good thing. Some aspects of Rico's nature were truly terrifying and I'd never want to be on his wrong side. On the other hand, he could be quite amusing. He loved music, especially Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger.

And Tan? Tan Wei was Pam's fabulous Chinese boyfriend. She'd brought him home one night after meeting him in the French Quarter and three years later he was still with us. He was a martial arts specialist from Hong Kong. He had just sort of clicked, with Pam, and with us. He was frequently my partner in crime during the daytime, keeping me safe, along with the occasional Were bodyguard, like Edwin. They were very a close couple, and it was really funny to see how Pam was so mild-mannered on the rare occasions when Tan was in a bad mood. Eric and I thought she was starting to think about making a more formal commitment with him. He was not bound to her. Pam still struggled with her feelings. But Tan seemed to take it all in stride and teasingly called her 'Grasshopper'. He frequently joked with me about how 'fond' Pam was of both of us, and of Eric. Most of the time, Pam was still a real pistol. Only last week I had to replace a plate glass window in Eric's office when she said something snarky to Eric and he tossed a piece of furniture just past her. Then she teasingly insulted his poor aim. He laughed at her then. Pam just loved to live a bit dangerously. Things had been so peaceful for the past year that I thought she was just keeping things interesting at times. That Pam…

We chatted on for a while and then Emily refused to let me wash up my plate and knife, saying it was my birthday and I should give it up already. I almost invariably wanted to clean up after myself.

"Alright, just this once. I'm going to go get some work done, then. Thanks for the toast and for the company." I checked my cell phone as I walked and saw I already had an amazing six voicemail messages by 10:45 am. Missed calls from Jason, Amelia, Sam, Claudine, Claude, a number that was likely Niall, Alcide and one from Liesel, from back around 6 am. I bet that Claudine was going to call back so she could speak to me in person. That was so Claudine. She'd probably pop in later, too. We'd just had beignets at Café du Monde on Saturday morning but she loved to fuss. And Jason? He hated leaving messages. He'd stubbornly call until he got me.

I exited the kitchens to cross the courtyard and unlocked the office side of the complex, looking around and noting that all the chairs in the hall were out of place again. Impromptu meetings in the hallways drove me mad. They happened all the time and I got the feeling that Eric even encouraged them as a way to work out issues informally. But they left the halls a total mess. At least today there were no bottles and plates stacked up. I ignored the chairs and walked down to my office and saw that someone, or some _people_, had tacked a birthday banner to my office door before dawn. It bore more signatures than I could count and made me laugh because of all the funny stuff written on it. Pam had written, dead center (har har) in her fancy hand '_Apparently,_ _I'm still older than you are, so you still have to do what I say, little telepath…'_ Thalia had written _'BEHAVE YOURSELF_' in block letters. After a few more chuckles I unlocked the door and went inside. I'd save the rest for later, savoring them, like the voice messages.

Rather than turning on the overhead lights, I opened my plantation shutters and let the sunlight stream into the room. My office looked out onto the back gardens. The bougainvillea was blooming up a storm out on the trellises and pergola. I logged into my computer and waited for my inbox to load. Forty-two emails, but it looked like twelve of those were going to my personal email address rather than the work email address. I scanned through the work subject headers before indulging in the personal email folder. Some thirty odd emails, pretty typical for a Monday. Updates from various states, a couple of issues from here in Louisiana that looked mostly Were-related, although there was one that looked to be about a problem with a Fae business. The Fae had partially come out two years before. They had been clever about it, trotting out all the pretty fairies who were in films and the arts and keeping all the scary ones like the Fideal or the kelpies under deep cover. Things had worked out well for the Fae for the most part, especially that keeping of the human-eating ones under wraps. It looked like a pretty usual Monday, then. No urgent issues, requiring special negotiations. Things had been pretty peaceful for the past few months, after a flair up of fighting between a group of Weres and the vampires of southern Iowa. Iowa had been in the Alliance for only two years and their vampires had been a little loathe to follow the party line on better supernatural relations. But things were settling down. My job as the official Interracial Liaison for the Alliance had been a very active one for the past seven years. I'd started out just working in the state of Louisiana, but within less than a year, Stan had me handling Texas problems and Joseph Arkansas's, too, because of my status as a friend of multiple Were packs in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, of many covens and my protected status among the Fae. Soon enough I'd been covering most of the states in the Alliance, though Liesel had still covered Nevada until about nine months ago.

I opened my personal email folder and was surprised to see a Hallmark e-card from my Constitutional Law professor. How he even knew it was my birthday was beyond me. Maybe one of my classmates told him. He wished me well and said he'd look forward to seeing me when classes resumed in six weeks. I had loved his class and thought it was the best class I'd ever taken at Tulane. It was the proudest 'A' I'd earned as a student. I had done equally well in the first Constitutional Law class, in my first year, but it was the second year class with Mr. Abbis that had really challenged my mind. Civil Rights for supernatural races, and really for everyone, was a passion of mine. I had finished my philosophy and history degree in three and a half years and started law school two years ago. It was really grueling with my everyday schedule and my commitments with Roberto in Vegas. I reminded myself I still had it easy compared to a vampire doing it at night over five years. And I'd managed to do very well, especially in areas that were near and dear to my heart like Constitutional Law and Civil Rights or Humanitarian issues.

A slew of other emails from friends included one from Bill, pointing out that I was continuing to be officially older than he had been as a human and that this was deeply troubling, because I was getting_ seriously_ old. This from a man who died in 1867? I fired back a sassy reply. I hesitated to even log into my Facebook page until I'd tackled all the work and personal email. I bet that Hunter had posted some nutty things for me. Liesel's email wished me a happy birthday and she had also sent me photos of a party we'd attended in Vegas at the beginning of June, the last in which she ran as a wolf. She'd been turned in mid-June. After her bone-marrow transplant had failed, Roberto put his foot down and said he'd had enough. He simply couldn't take it. So here she was, two weeks in, keeping me posted daily. When we'd talked by video IM two nights before she looked better than she had in quite some time. The week she awakened vampire coincided with a waxing full moon and it was emotionally really hard on her. But she seemed as if she was coping well at present. She said it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. But, as she pointed out to me, wolves are predators, so it wasn't as much of a stretch as it might be for someone else.

Me, I was still on the fence. I still had one year left of law school and today I was thirty-four years old. My plans extended only as far as finishing law school and passing the Bar exam. I still loved the sunlight and daytime. But I studied so much and kept such crazy hours that I hardly ever had a tan anymore. The Brigant-owned pharmaceutical consortium had come up with all kinds of cool things to make the Fae safe from the risks of vampire drainage, including a colloidal silver supplement that could actually make vampires very ill if they bit you. It gave off a strange scent in the Fae that was ever so slightly repellant to vamps still tempted to bite. Vampires seldom hunted humans in the States anymore, either. The Alliance was now eighteen states strong and the states involved were models of mainstreaming success. There was also unprecedented stability in these states, a leading reason for new members joining. In the past seven years there had not been a single regime change in an Alliance state. By any measure, the Alliance was a stunning success.

Eric seldom pressured me anymore by mentioning wanting to turn me. As patient as a glacier, Eric Northman. I think that he could see that with time, and with the wonders of pharmacology offering a chance to still see my Fae family, my resistance was waning a bit. Eric had always been like water washing over stone with me. He could wear me down so gently. The slow and steady supply of his blood had kept me looking pretty youthful. I took good care of myself, stayed fit doing pilates, and Pam said I didn't look much older than when she'd first met me almost a decade ago. No, my only indications of Eric's thoughts on the matter were when he mentioned long term plans, which in Eric's mind meant fifty or a hundred years down the road. Late at night, lying in bed, when he would casually talk about where we'd be then, it was obvious that in his mind, 'we' meant that I'd be right there with him. I can almost see it myself some days. Seven years had flown by quickly and in spite of all my fears, I loved my family, my busy life. I was, just as Eric had predicted, very happy. And I love him so. I still have time to decide. Lately though, I was mindful of something that Roberto had told me back in early June before Liesel finally agreed. _Only a fool passes up the chance to be with someone you truly love._

Well, Sookie Northman is no fool.

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A/N- The next story, which is already about twice this length, is called _Turning Point._ (I leave that to your imagination.) I'll try to put it up soon.


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